SIPRI’s Latest International Arms Trends Report
Andrew Korybko
Andrew Korybko's Newsletter

Five Details That Most Observers Missed From SIPRI’s Latest International Arms Trends Report: They’re not as significant as the fact sheet’s top takeaways, but they’re still worth knowing about.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), which is regarded as the top authority on the international arms trade, released its latest report about related trends from 2020-2024 last month.
Their fact sheet did a nice job pointing out such trends as the 64% drop in Russian arms exports between 2015-2019 and 2020-2024 as well as Qatar more than doubling its arms imports to become the world’s third-largest importer, but there are still five details that evaded most observers:
1. Israel Isn’t Among The US’ Top Ten Arms Recipients
SIPRI casually mentioned that “Israel was the 11th largest recipient of US arms exports in 2020–24 with a share of 3.0 per cent” right after reporting that Saudi Arabia received 12% and Qatar 7.7%. Framed differently, the Saudis received four times as many arms as Israel did and Qatar two and a half times, which challenges popular perceptions of Israel’s role in the US’ military-industrial complex. These facts deserve further reflection, but the conclusions might upset some activists in the Alt-Media Community.