International Arms Trade After the Cold War

Chulalongkorn Journal of Economics 13, 2001:189-207

For much of the Cold War the main feature of the international arms trade has been the US-Soviet conflict. The two ideological adversaries sought strategic advantage through arms sales and transfers. As superpower conflict increased during the 1980s, so did the volume Soviet weapons transfers. Both powers targeted their ideological supporters in the South. Arms races increase the probability of war. One consequence of the Cold War was an increased level of Third World militarism and a heightened level of conflict worldwide. Of course, US-Soviet rivalry is not the only source of regional conflict, and there are many reasons why the North-South arms trade continues, albeit at about one half the previous level.

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