Why we founded the GLOBAL NET – STOP THE ARMS TRADE
The global arms trade is ruining development in the receiving countries
After the terror attacks of 11 September 2001, government policies and the arms industry in the industrialized nations initiated a worldwide turn-around. The phase of global disarmament and demilitarization as a result of the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and German unification in the Nineties. The hope for a „peace dividend“ of billions to combat hunger and promote education and health throughout the world was lost.
From then on, priority on peaceful de-escalation of conflicts was superseded by priority on military intervention by war, of which those in Afghanistan, in Libya, in Iraq, and in Syria attracted the most media attention. The past decade-and-a-half has been marked by worldwide re-militarization, with vastly inflated defense budgets and the establishment and expansion of military capacities, above all in the NATO countries.
One unique industry profited and profits from this trend: the arms manufacturers and exporters who supply weapons to the regions of crisis and war in the world. They add fuel to the fire of wars and civil wars unscrupulously with constantly increasing shipments of arms. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed, maimed, and traumatized, whole regions devastated, and the development of the economy and infrastructure of whole states destroyed.
Read more GN-STAT Gobal Net