Frenetic arms buying in Latin America in 2009 and last year led to diplomatic initiatives, including several from the Obama administration, to control a trend that critics said could turn into an arms race.
The arms buying was fueled partly by tensions between Colombia and Venezuela and partly by the various national military establishments' lobbying for defense modernization.
More recently, arms buying focus has shifted to the Middle East amid continuing tensions between Iran and the Arab states of the Persian Gulf region.
SIPRI said its arms transfers research program received funding from the foreign ministries of Norway and Sweden.
The money will go toward further research to inform discussions toward an arms trade treaty opening later in the year."
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NATO Missile Defense for Europe
NATO has agreed to provide ballistic missile defense or BMD for all of Europe. This NATO BMD will protect NATO (European and American) military forces in Europe. It will also – for the very first time – protect the civilian population throughout Europe from ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction launched from the Middle East.
Much of this NATO missile defense for Europe – known as the European Phased Adaptive Approach – will actually be provided by the United States armed forces. This will include seaborne AEGIS missile defense on board US Navy ships in the Mediterranean, as well as land based radars and interceptor missiles.
This e-book describes how NATO missile defense for Europe will be organized and implemented.
