The international arms trade in conventional weapons

Some of the most significant, and colourful, figures in the international arms trade are the arms traffickers who are willing to provide almost any type of military hardware to virtually any buyer – for price. Probably, most notorious of all alleged traffickers in modern times is Viktor Bout, a Russian-born arms dealer who ran an operation using over 50 planes to transport weapons and other military equipment. Moreover, the increasing sophistication and lethality of many conventional weapons means that the dividing line between them and so-called Weapons of Mass Destruction has become extremely blurred. The primary recipients of legal arms transfers are states. All states have right to purchase conventional weapons, to arm their military and civilian police forces, so in most cases, this activity is considered part of the lawful arms trade. Perhaps most important is the simple fact that, for the first time in history, it establishes binding international standards in relation to the trade in conventional weapons.