Conclusion

Abstract

The aim of this book has been to contribute to better understandings of the nature of SALW spread. When viewed through a reflection on the nature of structures and dynamics of the spread of other weapons — as in Chapter 2 — current understandings of SALW spread are revealed not only as emphasising the relative breadth and complexity of SALW spread, but as framing it in an amorphous image. In particular, the amorphous image implies that there is no non-state threshold in SALW spread, but rather that SALW spread to conflicts is a function of a vast global stock of arms, available in a vibrant globalised illicit market and accessed through a shadowy array of nefarious arms brokers. This amorphous image has been perpetuated in understandings of SALW flows to conflicts, in which access to arms is seen as being determined only by possession of financial resources with which to purchase them.