“One of the reasons why embargoes don’t work is there are no global rules on the conventional arms trade,” said Ms MacDonald. Individual countries are free either to restrict their exports or sell weapons to any buyer – and the figures demonstrate that even governments subjected to embargoes are skilled at evading them.
Campaigners say the solution would be a global treaty regulating the trade in conventional weapons. Britain already forbids any exports that could be used for “internal repression” or “external aggression”. A new treaty could take those restrictions and make them global.
The UN will hold a conference to discuss the issue in July. However, countries like Russia and China benefit greatly from arms exports. They are highly unlikely to accept any international rules that would restrict this trade.
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