Forum on the Arms Trade is a network of scholars and advocates on arms transfers, weapons use, and national security who hold conferences to discuss human rights, disarmament, and cybersecurity.

Activities

Forum on the Arms Trade tracks weapons sales and arms transfers made between countries during wars. For example, its tracker for Ukraine states that Ukraine was the fourteenth largest arms importer between 2018 and 2022, but in 2022 alone it imported the third-largest amount of arms in the world. Its tracker contains a lengthy timeline that minutely documents all the defense spending packages passed by countries in NATO and beyond and what types of missile systems, vehicles, weapons, and munitions were given to Ukraine by its allies. ¹

It also tracks the Biden administration’s arms sales to Saudia Arabia, U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, and other “controversial arms sales” of the Biden administration. ^{2 3 4}

In 2023, Forum on the Arms Trade was in official partnerships with Center for International Policy, Shadow World Investigations (SWI), Pathways to Renewed and Inclusive Security in the Middle East (PRISME), Seguridad Humana en LatinoAmerica y el Caribe (SEHLAC), Amassuru – Mujeres en seguridad, Security Context, and the Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland School of Public Policy. ⁵

Forum on the Arms Trade has over 50 official affiliated scholars and activists ranging from analysts at foreign policy think tanks to academics at universities. ⁶

Forum on the Arms Trade also has an “emerging experts” program which spotlights younger people in the humanitarian arms movement. ⁷

Funding

As of 2023, Forum on the Arms Trade was being funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. It had previously received funds from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung New York Office, which in turn has support from the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). ⁸

Leadership

As of 2023, Forum on the Arms Trade was directed by Jeff Abramson. ⁹ Abramson is a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy and was previously a senior fellow at the Arms Control Association. He was the former manager of the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor, which oversaw the international Mine Ban Treaty and Convention on Cluster Munitions. He was also the director of Control Arms, an advocacy group for the Arms Trade Treaty. ¹⁰

As of 2023, the board of directors was comprised of Abramson, senior consultant for Transparency International Defence and Security Colby Goodman, senior research fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft William Hartung, and president and CEO of Center for International Policy Nancy Okail. ¹¹

1. “Arms Transfers to Ukraine.” Forum on the Arms Trade. Accessed November 5, 2023. https://www.forumarmstrade.org/emerging-experts.html.
2. “Biden Administration – Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia.” Forum on the Arms Trade. Accessed November 5, 2023. https://www.forumarmstrade.org/us-saudi-arms.html.
3. “U.S. Arms Sales to Taiwan.” Forum on the Arms Trade. Accessed November 5, 2023. https://www.forumarmstrade.org/ustaiwan.html.
4. “Controversial Arms Sales – Biden Administration.” Forum on the Arms Trade. Accessed November 5, 2023. https://www.forumarmstrade.org/bidenarms.html.
5. “About.” Forum on the Arms Trade. Accessed November 5, 2023. https://www.forumarmstrade.org/about.html.
6. “Experts.” Forum on the Arms Trade. Accessed November 5, 2023. https://www.forumarmstrade.org/experts.html.
7. “Emerging Experts.” Forum on the Arms Trade. Accessed November 5, 2023. https://www.forumarmstrade.org/emerging-experts.html.
8. “About.” Forum on the Arms Trade. Accessed November 5, 2023. https://www.forumarmstrade.org/about.html.
9. ^[1] “About.” Forum on the Arms Trade. Accessed November 5, 2023. https://www.forumarmstrade.org/about.html.
10. “Jeff Abramson.” Forum on the Arms Trade. Accessed November 5, 2023. https://www.forumarmstrade.org/jeff-abramson.html.
11. “About.” Forum on the Arms Trade. Accessed November 5, 2023. https://www.forumarmstrade.org/about.html.