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William D. Hartung is director, Arms and Security Project, at the Center for International Policy. He is the author of Prophets of War: Lockheed Martin and the Making of the Military-Industrial Complex (Nation Books, 2011) and the co-editor, with Miriam Pemberton, of Lessons from Iraq: Avoiding the Next War (Paradigm Press, 2008). His previous books include And Weapons for All (HarperCollins, 1995), a critique of U.S. arms sales policies from the Nixon through Clinton administrations. From July 2007 through March 2011, Mr. Hartung was the director of the Arms and Security Initiative at the New America Foundation. Prior to that, he served as the director of the Arms Trade Resource Center at the World Policy Institute. He also worked as a speechwriter and policy analyst for New York State Attorney General Robert Abrams. Bill Hartung’s articles on security issues have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, The Nation, TomDispatch and the World Policy Journal. He has been a featured expert on national security issues on CBS 60 Minutes, NBC Nightly News, the Lehrer Newshour, CNN, Fox News, and scores of local, regional, and international radio outlets. He blogs for the Huffington Post and Medium.

Tracking the Mideast Arms Trade: Available Resources and Research Challenges

Measured by new orders, the Middle East/Persian Gulf region has been the world’s largest arms market in recent years. This is of special concern given the use of these arms in the area’s multiple conflicts and in fueling a potential regional arms race. While there is significant information available from government and independent sources on new arms offers to the region, it is much more difficult to determine which weapons have actually been delivered, and when. And it is much easier to get information on major systems than on small arms, weapons components, or arms production technology. This presentation will discuss these challenges and possible solutions.