Taking Aim at the Arms Trade

About this book

"Taking Aim at the Arms Trade takes a critical look at the ways in which NGOs portray the arms trade as a problem of international politics and the strategies they use to effect change." "NGO's have been pivotal in bringing the suffering caused by the arms trade to public attention and pushing for measures to control or eradicate the trade. Overall, however, their activity has helped sideline debate on Northern military predominance and facilitated intervention in the South based on liberal understandings of the arms trade, conflict, development and human rights. They thus contribute to the perpetuation of a hierarchical world military order and the construction of the South as a site of Northern benevolence and intervention." "Anna Stavrianakis exposes the tensions inherent in NGOs' engagement with the arms trade and argues for a re-examination of dominant assumptions about NGOs as global civil society actors." "'This well-researched, incisive study is essential reading for anyone concerned with the possibilities of change and challenges to military power in our society.'-Martin Shaw, Department of International Relations, University of Sussex" "'Anna Stavrianakis's reframing of the arms trade within broader historical processes and structures provides a welcome corrective that should interest NGO activists and scholars alike.'-Keith Krause, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva" "'This brilliantly researched book provides an original and critical examination of the relationship between NGOs and the international arms trade ... this timely and nuanced analysis delves beneath the surface to reveal a far more interesting and worrying story.'-Mark Duffield, Global Insecurities Centre, University of Bristol." "'Stavrianakis combines detailed analysis with critical insights in a manner that is both illuminating and stimulating and raises issues that are at the core of civil society. She has written a book that deserves to be read and thought about ... '-Paul Rogers, Bradford University"--Jacket.