Arms trade

Defence market in Southeast Asia

While many countries across the globe are cutting down on their military expenditure, ASEAN member states are heading in the opposite direction. Over the last 15 years, the total defence spending of Southeast Asian countries has doubled in absolute terms, with Thailand and Indonesia becoming witness to military expenditure growth rates of 10% on a year-by-year basis. Connected to the rise in defence spending is an increase in a procurement of armaments.

24 April 2018
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Arms trade fuels Russia’s inroads into Southeast Asia

The bedrock of Russia’s relations with Southeast Asian countries is the sale of its arms. According to a Chatham House report in 2017, Russia exports 43.1 percent of its weapons to Asia and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states are key recipients of these arms. Even for smaller countries like Myanmar, that don’t make up a large share of the Russian arms exports market, Russia is still the main supplier of weapons to the state.

19 February 2018
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