In this project we explore the process and implications of arms trafficking. Illicit arms are a commodity with high market value and destabilizing effect. The supply and demand within that market correspond with macro, meso, and micro levels from geopolitical rivalries to local socioeconomic rifts, inequalities, and grievances. In this project we look at the mechanisms that facilitate arms trafficking, looking at borders, weak states, areas with limited statehood, and state collapse. We explore who are the actors that are involved in the process and what are their motivations and actions. The project also examines the broader consequences of arms trafficking, mapping routes and terminus.
Researchers: Ori Swed, Kerry Chavez, Bradley Schmidt
Chávez, Kerry, and Ori Swed. "Conflict contagion via weapons proliferation out of collapsed states." Small Wars & Insurgencies (2022): 1-37.
Chávez, Kerry, and Ori Swed. 2022. “Weak States and Loose Arms: Lessons and Warnings from Afghanistan to Ukraine” War on the Rocks
Presentation: American Sociological Association Annual Meeting 2021. State-making versus State-breaking: From Monopoly on Violence to small Arms Proliferation
Presentation: 2020 ISA Annual Convention. When the monopoly on violence dissolves: Charting the trafficking of arms in the shadow of Libya's collapse