A study by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) found that U.S. arms sales surged last year, despite the worst global economic downturn in decades. (UPDATE: WPR subscribers can download the CRS report here.) In 2008, U.S. arms dealers signed new weapons contracts worth approximately $37.8 billion, a considerable increase from previous years. The surge was remarkable given that the total volume of new arms orders in 2008, $55.2 billion, was billions of dollars below the comparable figures for 2007 and 2006.
The United States also fortified its position as the leading arms-exporting country. Last year, the volume of global defense contracts involving the United States exceeded those of all other countries combined. The nearest competitors were Italy, with $3.7 billion in global arms sales agreements, and Russia, with $3.5 billion in weapons contracts. In 2007, the United States government accounted for only 41 percent of the value of all weapons orders, with an estimated value of $24.8 billion (.pdf). This figure still represented a major rise over the 2006 figure of $16.7 billion. ...
|