Turkish arms exports surged past $4 billion in 2022, up nearly 36 percent from 2021, with exports accounting for 98 percent of the arms contractor Bayraktar’s sales. Clearly, Turkey has arrived as a major arms exporter, but what are the implications of these exports in terms of its choice of partners?
War is hell, but for large and politically influential defense contractors, it is also good business. This is fueling claims among some NATO allies that the U.S. is profiting from the war in Ukraine. There is no denying that U.S. defense contractors are benefiting, but accusations of war profiteering are simply off base.
Editor’s Note: This article is part of an ongoing series about the production and trade of arms around the world. Between 2014 and 2017, Germany’s government approved some $31 billion in weapons sales, including almost $18 billion to countries outside the European Union and the NATO alliance. Under Chancellor Angela Merkel, Germany has become one of the top five arms exporters in the world by volume, despite major domestic opposition to the sale of German weapons. In an email interview, Sophia Besch, a research fellow at the Center for European Reform and an expert on German defense and security policy, [...]
