Country: Brazil
Committee: DISEC
Topic: Illicit Arms Trade
Delegate: Matthew Jones
School: Williamston High School
The modern arms industry really took off in the second half of the nineteenth century. Smaller countries couldn’t meet there countries military arms demands so they started hiring out to foriegn companies. Around WW1, France began to export weapons in extremely large amounts because there was little regulation on the export of weapons. The arms trade can be split into three main categories, land based, Aerospace, and Naval. Land based can include anything from, small arms, to heavy artillery. Land based is the biggest on this list. Small arms are the hardest to control trade of and are made up of any firearms designed for individual use. Aerospace includes airplanes and missiles and any other air based weapon systems. Naval systems include any system based on water, such as submarines and battleships.
Brazil has worked to stop the illicit sale of arms. Most recently Brazil has joined the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). ATT is a treaty to regulate the international trade of conventional weapons to contribute to international and regional peace. Also the treaty reduces human suffering and promotes cooperation, transparency, and responsible action by and among states. ATT is the number one anti-illicit sale legislation. Brazil may export many small arms but is working to bring that number down and increase transparency of sales. Brazil has attended many anti-illicit arms trade conferences.
Going forward, we must reign back in the illicit arms trade. Many ideas come to mind, but one of the best but hardest to implement would be an increase of border security. It would result in less organizations getting their hands on illicit weapons. Larger countries would need to work with smaller countries to help secure their borders. Also, if neighboring countries could work together on border security instead of each country doing their own thing. Other options include; a committee to look into suspicious sales, and a ban on certain weapon sales. Though the latter of the two would be an extreme case because firearm bans should be 100% national
- Matthew Jones