Arms trade deals signed during the Obama administration have led to a rise in U.S. weapons exports in recent years, with nearly half of U.S. weapons going to the Middle East, fueling violent conflicts there.
New research completed by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) found that the global arms trade rose by about 10 percent from 2013 to 2017, during which the U.S. increased its sales by about 25 percent and accounted for about a third of global weapons exports.
The study was released as peace activists and some lawmakers have called for an end to U.S. arms sales to countries including Saudi Arabia. The Saudis, now the world’s second-largest weapons importers, have led a military coalition against the Houthi rebels in Yemen since 2015 using weapons and intelligence from the Pentagon—giving way to a humanitarian crisis in the impoverished country and killing hundreds of civilians.
“Widespread violent conflict in the Middle East and concerns about human rights have led to political debate in western Europe and North America about restricting arms sales,” Pieter Wezeman, senior researcher for SIPRI, told the Guardian. “Yet the U.S.A. and European states remain the main arms exporters to the region and supplied over 98 percent of weapons imported by Saudi Arabia.”
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