Arms Trade and the Challenge of International and National Security

This paper investigates how the international arms trade continues to undermine national and global security. Although governments justify legitimate arms transactions as essential for self-defence, the trade remains deeply contradictory, often intensifying armed conflicts, weakening fragile states, and enabling grave human rights abuses. Using 2020–2024 global arms-transfer data, the analysis highlights rising transfers influenced by shifting geopolitical alignments, especially in Europe, and the persistent risks associated with illicit trafficking, diversion, and the spread of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW). Guided by a Critical Security Studies perspective, the paper shifts attention from traditional state-centric interpretations to structural dynamics, arguing that arms flows reproduce global power asymmetries, sustain structural violence, and obstruct the advancement of human security. The findings show that existing regulatory mechanisms, including the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), remain significantly constrained by limited universal adoption, inconsistent compliance by major exporters and importers, and complex transnational diversion networks. Addressing these gaps will require strengthened transparency measures, rigorous end-user verification, and targeted efforts to dismantle illicit financial systems that sustain unlawful arms markets.