War: A Profit-Making Evil?
By Harshul Singh, Senior Content Analyst
For one war might be an act of devastation and crisis but for some, these are enterprises for arms and ammunition business — the war profiteering.
In large, war or conflict profiteers include all ventures, individual contractors and financial institutions who derive financial profits from war and militarization. Funding from such entities enable war possible as these people and groups stake in the continuation of the conflict. They may vary from informal sector’s illegal weapons off-border traders to formal sector political and military leaders and other government executives.
Some argue that this development is a modern practice since the advent of the camo economy and its growth. But there stands contradicting examples dating back to Gulf Wars, hinting at the use of such practices during the Iraq invasions in 1991. The Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, states that the post-2011 global arena experienced a spike in cases and reporting of war profiteering where many new actors have become major stakeholders, gaining benefits from such business practices.
According to a report published in “247 Wall Street,” a majority of top businesses engaged in such activity were based in the United States, accounting for more than 58 percent of overall arms sales in the world. The top ten of such business companies arms sales accounted for 35% of the overall revenue. Western European companies, on the other hand, make up the remainder of the top 10 arms makers, accounting for 28% of the top 100 arms sales, according to the research. Some of them are Thales; United Technologies (NYSE: UTX); General Dynamics (NYSE: GD); Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC); BAE Systems; Boeing (NYSE: BA) and others.
These companies specialize in the production, sales, and delivery of guns to government agencies across the world. Many of them also contribute to their nations’ economies by expanding their manufacturing capacity and improving their sales and distribution methods. These are advanced military devices that cost millions of dollars and are supplied to governments all over the world.
There is a substantial profit involved, gained from conflict. Every year, the military spends more on prevention throughout the world. According to a Huffington Post analysis, the world’s top arms makers were able to sell a total of $402 billion worth of guns and military services in 2013 alone. Many countries do not spend anywhere near this much. However, military spending in Western and Central Europe, as well as North America, has been steadily declining, while nations such as Russia and Brazil have increased their military spending. There can be many reasons sighted for this such as the rise of neo-liberal and populist regimes bringing a change in global system and practices, regarding it as need for them to portray as a strong nation. Regardless of the global decline in weapon purchases, the weapon’s makers make huge profits from its sales.
War profiteering is against the ethics of humanity. In the era of neo-liberalism, the leaders of privatized war economies reap unlimited rewards, and thus, their profit motive for war in the Middle East — North Africa or that be any part of the world — will persist. The bigger question before us is at what cost this will stop, already so many nations have been ravished in conflicts, is this even profiteering?
