A sia's economic growth has many effects, not least of which is providing more money for governments to buy arms. So it should come as no surprise that the most authoritative assessment of the world's conventional arms market puts Asian nations at the top of the list of arms purchasers.
There should be more productive ways to put Asia's hard-earned money to work, but status concerns and sellers eager to support their domestic industries will keep tempting those governments. Saying no takes discipline and restraint: Neither has been much in evidence in recent years.
According to the U.S. Congressional Research Service, Asia has accounted for nearly 50 percent of the total value of new arms transfer agreements with developing countries since 2001. This affords the region the dubious honor of having surpassed the Near East as the world's top conventional weapons market. (That region has been eclipsed as a result of a slowdown in arms purchases by Saudi Arabia.) Sales increased significantly last year, jumping from $15.1 billion in 2003 to nearly $22 billion in 2004, marking the highest level of sales since 2000.