Report on Small Arms Issued by Belfer Center

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December 16, 1999

SEARCH THE GAZETTE

HARVARD GAZETTE ARCHIVES

Small arms and light weapons – weapons that can be carried by an individual soldier – are the instruments of death most commonly employed in the small wars of the post-Cold War era. As ethnic and internal conflicts proliferate, the flood of small arms becomes a relentless tide. Their easy availability in an international environment that tolerates violence leading to waves of human suffering and deaths too numerous to count.

In the 1990s, approximately 4 million soldiers and civilians have been killed by small arms in the internecine conflicts of the developing world. More people, in other words, have been killed in this decade in war by small arms than by major weapon systems. Likewise, millions have been wounded, displaced from their homes, and reduced to hunger by civil wars fueled by small arms. Economic development efforts have been undermined, medical costs increased, and improvements to living standards denied. The easy availability of small arms assists drug trafficking, terrorism, organized crime, and much more.

Small arms are the weapons of choice in the brutal wars of this era. Portable, cheap, and readily procured, they are supremely destructive. A Brazilian-made assault rifle, for example, can fire 700 rounds a minute. It is estimated that as many as 500 million small arms may currently be in circulation in the developing world. The global trade in these weapons is worth $7 billion a year. About 70 countries manufacture small arms, but the biggest suppliers are the United States, Russia, the Czech Republic, China, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Brazil, and Bulgaria.

The problem posed to development and peace by small arms and light weapons is documented by Michael Klare and Robert I. Rotberg in The Scourge of Small Arms, a report published this month by the World Peace Foundation and the Program on Intrastate Conflict in the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Kennedy School of Government.

The report also focuses on whether or how supplies of small arms can be limited by United Nations, European Union, or U.S. initiative and action. It reviews the nature of the legal trade in small arms and argues that the trade could become more transparent and accountable. It further addresses how best to curb the illegal trade in small arms, much of it directed to fueling civil wars and other conflicts in the developing world.

Klare and Rotberg’s report, the product of intensive research and review with representatives from the United Nations, agencies of the United States and other governments, and academics and nongovernmental organization leaders, recommends 24 ways in which to advance awareness of the problem and overall accountability and measurement. It also suggests how best to limit illicit sales and shipments. Copies of the report are available from the Belfer Center or the World Peace Foundation.