I thought it would be worthwhile to append some numbers to yesterday’s post about America’s short-sighted practice of arming certain authoritarian rulers.
What follows are the official Defense Department totals of overseas arms sales agreements from 1950 through 2009. These are mainly big weapons deals between the US government and the governments of other countries; small arms sales are not included.
The table offers a simple comparison of worldwide arms sales during that time, and sales to what the Pentagon calls “the Near East and South Asia.” This super-region corresponds roughly with the Islamic world, as shown by the maps here, minus a few key countries such as Turkey and Indonesia. (The full list of countries is at the end of this post.)
The comparison reveals that in almost every year since 1970, nearly one-half of US weapons exports have gone to an area containing roughly one-fifth of the world’s population.
Few of those people have the power to choose their leaders, in no small part because their leaders are so heavily armed. Is it any wonder America’s self-image as a beacon of freedom is so out of whack with its perception abroad?
Lest you think Israel and India might be skewing the figures: Those two countries account for $31.1 billion and $1.5 billion, respectively, of the total $230 billion in arms sales in the super-region. Which leaves $198 billion for the remaining collection of monarchies, despotisms and nominal democracies.
Eventually, I’d like to create some interactive maps using the country-by-country arms trade data. But since the source document is over 500 pages of oddly formatted, spreadsheet-unfriendly text, that project may require some financial support.
US Arms Agreements Sales Since 1950
Years
Worldwide Arms Sales
Near East / South Asia Arms Sales
Percent of Total
1950-69
$10,927,010,000
$1,845,957,000
16.90%
1970
$1,066,506,000
$390,339,000
36.60%
1971
$1,381,569,000
$688,432,000
49.80%
1972
$2,822,129,000
$1,136,085,000
40.30%
1973
$5,737,497,000
$4,408,280,000
76.80%
1974
$9,495,009,000
$7,794,253,000
82.10%
1975
$13,219,489,000
$6,268,995,000
47.40%
1976
$13,312,951,000
$10,277,753,000
77.20%
1977
$5,899,625,000
$3,569,889,000
60.50%
1978
$6,941,098,000
$3,656,085,000
52.70%
1979
$11,487,271,000
$7,425,356,000
64.60%
1980
$13,599,651,000
$7,226,200,000
53.10%
1981
$6,876,942,000
$2,722,834,000
39.60%
1982
$14,669,278,000
$7,541,769,000
51.40%
1983
$13,782,542,000
$4,756,426,000
34.50%
1984
$12,068,435,000
$4,156,398,000
34.40%
1985
$10,771,803,000
$4,284,441,000
39.80%
1986
$5,954,236,000
$1,764,805,000
29.60%
1987
$5,884,901,000
$1,862,730,000
31.70%
1988
$10,567,946,000
$6,612,466,000
62.60%
1989
$8,624,991,000
$4,976,744,000
57.70%
1990
$14,514,451,000
$8,713,841,000
60.00%
1991
$17,084,891,000
$11,592,612,000
67.90%
1992
$12,036,173,000
$2,583,135,000
21.50%
1993
$28,186,376,000
$14,093,629,000
50.00%
1994
$12,233,098,000
$4,525,293,000
37.00%
1995
$8,165,906,000
$2,265,602,000
27.70%
1996
$8,973,430,000
$3,769,953,000
42.00%
1997
$7,930,116,000
$2,080,566,000
26.20%
1998
$8,746,786,000
$4,464,798,000
51.00%
1999
$11,132,224,000
$5,402,354,000
48.50%
2000
$10,968,282,000
$3,879,519,000
35.40%
2001
$12,544,915,000
$5,722,676,000
45.60%
2002
$11,821,419,000
$4,910,371,000
41.50%
2003
$12,924,620,000
$3,267,472,000
25.30%
2004
$14,081,196,000
$6,503,776,000
46.20%
2005
$9,791,951,000
$3,874,279,000
39.60%
2006
$18,078,995,000
$7,561,074,000
41.80%
2007
$18,878,229,000
$7,455,340,000
39.50%
2008
$28,963,266,000
$17,706,338,000
61.10%
2009
$31,682,369,000
$16,702,040,000
52.70%
TOTAL
$483,829,574,000
$230,440,906,000
47.60%
_Source: US Department of Defense.
Countries included: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, British Indian Ocean Territories, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Maldives, Morocco, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen.
_