Weapons
European ambitions towards closer cooperation within the Common Security and Defence Policy have been given a boost in the wake of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, while the reaction to the war was described in Germany as a ‘turning point’, the effects of which are still hard to predict. The announcement by the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (Social Democratic Party of Germany, SPD) of a special fund of 100 billion euros for the Bundeswehr has already brought with it a massive shift in the Foreign and Security Policy of the EU. The general trend...
read more "Opposing the militarisation of the EU"
read more "Opposing the militarisation of the EU"
Within the European Union, Council Common Position 2008/944/CFSP of 8 December 2008 defining common rules governing control of exports of military technology and equipment is based on criteria that are intended to assess the countries of destination for the respective arms based on respect for human rights and international law, conflict prevention, democracy, regional stability and peace-keeping. As a rule, these considerations take precedence over the economic and industrial arguments that arms-exporting Member ...
read more "Arms Production and Employment: Discourse, Scale and Methodological Challenges"
read more "Arms Production and Employment: Discourse, Scale and Methodological Challenges"
New comic book in English, German and FrenchAbout the book
It is impossible to determine the number of firearms in circulation in the world, but one thing is certain: there have never been so many! According to recent estimates, there are now more than one billion firearms in existence. And if you consider the number of guns leaving the arsenals each day, this flow is not about to decrease.
European states bear a great share of responsibility for this situation. Weapons made in Europe are used to kill, harm and displace people around the globe. While ...
read more "Europe’s Deadly Trade: Arms Exports"
read more "Europe’s Deadly Trade: Arms Exports"
Understanding and confronting the militarisation of the European UnionAbout the book
How is the European Union (EU) preparing itself for the challenges that lie ahead? How will it deal with the climate, economic and social crises we are facing? What steps is it taking to tackle the root causes of these crises?
Answers to these questions are vital to those living within and outside the EU. The EU’s priorities and the subsequent allocation of political attention, personnel and financial resources matter a great deal. Disturbingly, the EU and its Member States have ...
read more "A militarised Union"
read more "A militarised Union"
Forward! The march, the burden and the desert, weariness and anger.
~Arthur Rimbaud, “A Season in Hell”
The French defence industry has become addicted to arms exports as part of a national strategy to remain a global military player. To feed this addiction, France is effectively allowing undemocratic countries in the Middle East and elsewhere to purchase French diplomatic silence and political complicity for their crimes.
***Version française ci-dessous***
While it is common knowledge that the Middle East has been a near-permanent...
read more "Hooked on weapons exports"
read more "Hooked on weapons exports"
Crafting Human Rights Due Diligence Legislation for Arms CompaniesThe international legal systems deployed to restrain the arms industry in the face of violations of human rights and humanitarian law are demonstrably weak. In certain areas, collective action has attempted to address this. Union workers in Italy refused to load generators onto boats laden with arms and bound for Saudi Arabia; diverse coalitions of demonstrators protested arms fairs in the UK; and Google employees refused to continue the corporation’s work on developing AI technology that could be ...
read more "Regulating the Arms Industry"
read more "Regulating the Arms Industry"