The Indo-Pacific region, in all its vastness and diversity, presents many international security challenges. It is also a region with, thus far, limited engagement with the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). Only 11 Indo-Pacific countries are currently states parties to the ATT, and nine states from the region have signed the Treaty but not yet ratified it.

The 2021 edition of the Small Arms Trade Transparency Barometer—which scores the transparency of top and major exporters’ reporting on authorized arms trade activities carried out in 2018—finds Switzerland to be the most transparent small arms exporter. Countries scored an average of 12.61 points out of a maximum of 25, which is a slight increase of last year’s score (12.36).

Sudan is at the epicentre of one of the world’s most dynamic arms markets. Protracted armed conflicts throughout the Horn of Africa have generated chronic armed violence and rates of internal displacement and refugee flows that are among the highest on record. There appears to be a robust association between arms availability and persistent insecurity in the region that has contributed to the militarization of its communities and the prolongation of many ongoing cross-border and internal conflicts.

Supply and Demand: Arms Flows and Holdings in Sudan reviews small arms supply and demand among the spectrum of armed actors in Sudan, highlighting recent trends and developments. It also describes the primary supply chains and mechanisms by which these arms transfers take place.

Also available in ARABIC.

After nine years of rebellion, proxy arming, and shifting alignments between the Government of Sudan (GoS) and both Arab and non-Arab populations in the region, the Darfur conflict appears little closer to resolution than it did in 2003. 1 Successive mediation efforts—in Abuja (2006), Tripoli (2007), and Doha (2009–12), among other initiatives—have not bridged the gaps between Khartoum and the multiplicity of Darfur armed opposition groups. In fact, although some parts of Darfur have become appreciably more peaceful, the last 18 months has witnessed an evolution of the conflict as a whole.

Small arms and light weapons need ammunition. Government forces and armed groups cannot wage battle or train their troops without a sustained supply of ammunition, and its availability determines the type of weapons used in most of the conflicts around the world. The surplus ammunition market provides the buyers with cheap, easily available, and compatible rounds. It also allows the suppliers to reduce potentially obsolete national stockpiles, and to benefit from the revenues of surplus sales.

The 2018 edition of the Small Arms Survey’s Trade Update—analyzing the small arms authorized trade in 2015—finds that the global authorized small arms trade was worth at least USD 5.7 billion in 2015, with small arms ammunition exports valued at USD 2.3 billion. The total value represents a seven per cent decrease between 2014 and 2015, mostly due to a USD 198 million decline in exports by top exporting countries the United States, Brazil, and Italy.  

The Small Arms Survey’s Trade Update 2017: Out of the Shadows provides an overview of the international trade in small arms and light weapons in 2014, identifies the world’s top and major exporters of small arms and light weapons, and assesses changes in trade patterns from 2013 to 2014.

The Small Arms Survey’s Trade Update 2016: Transfers and Transparency reports that the world’s ‘top’ and ‘major’ small arms exporters delivered at least USD 5.8 billion worth of small arms in 2013, an increase of 17 per cent compared to the USD 5 billion worth exported in 2012.