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Toward A More Responsible US Arms Trade Policy: Recommendations for the Biden-Harris Administration
Just Security, January 2021
With a new Administration taking office, a group of leading foreign policy, defense, and security experts have laid out key recommendations for reshaping America’s arms trade policy with an eye towards greater responsibility, oversight, and accountability.
Since 2017, the Trump Administration has made arms sales a cornerstone of its global engagement, including exports to controversial customers in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia while sidestepping opposition and concerns from lawmakers and the public. But while sales to countries like Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the Philippines, and others have generated serious concerns from peace and human rights defenders, the backlash has also sparked renewed interest in reform.
The experts, from groups including POMED, the Stimson Center, the Arms Control Association, the Center for Civilians in Conflict, the American Bar Association, Friends Committee on National Legislation, the Washington Office on Latin America, and the Center for International Policy, note the damage the Trump Administration’s arms transfer policies have had on international peace, human rights, and civilian protection, and suggest a series of urgently needed reforms for Biden-Harris administration to pursue. They include:
- Immediately pause and review all notified arms transfers ahead of delivery.
- Recommit to the Arms Trade Treaty.
- Develop and release a new Conventional Arms Transfer Policy.
- Apply the Leahy laws to arms sales and include human rights in terms of sale.
- Require a risk assessment of all planned transfers.
- Strengthen end-use monitoring to include human rights, corruption, and civilian harm.
- Restore State Department authority and human rights safeguards over firearms licensing.
- Revise drone export policies.
- Ban the use, production, and transfer of antipersonnel landmines and cluster munitions.
- Work with Congress to reform the Arms Export Control Act.
Though many of these recommendations will require long-term engagement from the White House, early tests of the Biden Administration’s commitment to promised reforms are already before the President, including recently proposed arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
For the full article, including details on all recommendations, click here.
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Security Assistance News & Research Roundup
News & Blog Posts.
New York Magazine, January 20
During his Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday, Secretary of State-designate Anthony Blinken said President Joe Biden’s administration would end U.S. support for Saudi Arabia’s military intervention in Yemen, including an end to logistical support and arms sales.
Reuters, January 20
The UAE signed a last-minute arms deal with the outgoing Trump administration to purchase 50 F-35 jets and up to 18 armed drones. President Biden has indicated that he will review the arms deal that was reportedly signed “about an hour” before he took office.
Washington Post, January 21
Days before the New START pact with Russia is set to expire, President Biden will pursue its extension for five additional years. The agreement is “the only remaining treaty” limiting the nuclear arsenals of Russia and the US.
The Guardian, January 18
Australia has approved military exports to Saudi Arabia & the United Arab Emirates, despite their involvement in the Yemen humanitarian crisis. The move has prompted calls for transparency as well as condemnation from human rights groups.
France 24, January 20
Former French Prime Minister Edouard Balladur will be tried for allegedly using kickbacks generated from arms sales to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to fund his failed presidential campaign in the 1990s.
The Hill, January 20
President Hassan Rouhani urged the Biden administration to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal as he signaled Iran’s willingness to comply with the agreement’s components. President Biden has “expressed an openness” to return to the deal if Iran follows its restrictions.
Research, Analysis, and Opinion
The Hill, January 21
Chuck Hagel and Catherine Ashton outline the internal disagreements in both Iran and the US about how to resuscitate the Iran nuclear deal and how these debates can be resolved.
January 11, Forum On The Arms Trade
The Council of the European Union agreed on the setup of the European Peace Facility (EPF), designed to finance “external action having military or defence implications”. The Council describes the EPF as “a fundamental investment in peace and stability that will allow the EU and its partners to effectively and flexibly address international crises”. However, Roy Isbister and Frank Slijper argue that the EPF has fundamental conceptual failings and operational shortcomings. Moreover, providing weapons and ammunition to security forces in fragile states may be more likely to exacerbate than solve local and regional conflicts.
January 22, The Borgen Project
A comprehensive overview of one of the most consequential U.S. foreign policy initiatives with Latin America, this piece looks to extract some lessons learned from Plan Colombia, an effort that included hundreds of millions in U.S. security assistance to Bogota.
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Data Fact of the Week:
Regional Breakdown of Foreign Military Sales in 2020
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The graphic above illustrates the regional breakdown of U.S. foreign military sales in 2020.
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Upcoming Congressional Hearings
Senate Foreign Relations Committee
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Upcoming Events (All Online)
1/25: Project Convergence and Army Modernization – A Conversation with General John M. Murray, hosted by CSIS
1/26: Defending the seas: Gray-zone threats in the maritime domain, hosted by American Enterprise Institute
1/26: Has the World Turned Its Back on the Uyghurs?, hosted by Georgetown University
1/26: Ninth Annual US-Mexico Security Conference: Part 1, hosted by the Wilson Center
1/26: Engaging China on Nuclear Arms Control, hosted by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
1/26: Defining Endless Wars: The First Step Towards Ending Them, hosted by New America
1/27: The Future of U.S.-Nigeria Relations: A Conversation with Ambassador John Campbell, hosted by the Hudson Institute
1/27: Challenges for the Biden administration: Addressing the evolving air and missile threat, hosted by Brookings
1/28: The complexities of unraveling US sanctions and returning to the JCPOA, hosted by the Atlantic Council
1/28: Arab Views on Great Power Competition: Unpacking Arab Barometer Surveys, hosted by the Atlantic Council
1/28: The South Asian Security Landscape, hosted by the Stimson Center
1/29: Surprise and Innovative Operational Concepts: Gaining Competitive Advantage in Great Power Conflicts, hosted by CSIS
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