The US is Selling Weapons to Nearly Half the Countries in the World
By Samuel OakfordFebruary 23, 2016 | 1:20 am

The global trade in arms continued to grow over the last half decade, buoyed by an appetite for weapons in the Middle East and a near doubling of exports from China.

Figures released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, a monitoring group, showed that even as the total trade in weapons grew by 14 percent between 2011 and 2015, the two largest exporters, Russia and the US, managed to capture even greater portions of the pie. American exports made up a full third of the global trade, up from 29 percent between 2006 and 2010. According to a congressional report, US arms sales increased by more than a third in 2014 alone, to $36.2 billion from 26.7 the year prior. SIPRI reported that over the last five years, the US sold "major" weapons to at least 96 countries — just a hair under half the total number of UN member states.

Russia meanwhile captured a quarter of all exports in SIPRI's most recent assessment, up from 22 percent in the previous reporting period.

In line with longstanding security alliances in the Gulf, the US sent nearly 10 percent of its total exports between 2011 and 2015 to Saudi Arabia, and a further 9.1 percent to the United Arab Emirates. Both countries are members of the coalition that has intervened militarily in Yemen for nearly a year, largely with American-supplied aircraft and munitions. According to the Congressional Research Service, the US sold them more than $90 billion in armaments and weapons systems since 2010.

Overall, imports to the Middle East rose by 61 percent; Saudi Arabia and the UAE were the second and fourth-biggest global importers between 2011 and 2015. Elsewhere in the region, Qatar's imports grew by 279 percent, while Egypt's increased by 37. Weapons purchases by Iraq, which is battling Islamic State militants, rose 83 percent more during the past five years than between 2006 and 2011, continuing a steady flow that began following the US-led invasion of the country in 2003.

"Despite low oil prices, large deliveries of arms to the Middle East are scheduled to continue as part of contracts signed in the past five years," said Pieter Wezeman, Senior Researcher at SIPRI, in a statement.

Russia sent nearly 40 percent of all its exports to India, followed by sales to China and Vietnam. The latter increased its spending on foreign arms by a whopping 699 percent, catapulting their rank among importers from 43rd to eighth over the past five years. Nearly all of the weapons delivered to Vietnam came from Russia, including 8 combat aircraft, 4 submarines and 4 "fast attack craft." SIPRI assessed that Vietnam's stepped-up purchasing reflected fears of Beijing's growing power in Asia and territorial claims in the South China Sea that overlap with its own.

While China still only accounts for 5.9 percent of global arms exports, its share is growing faster that practically any other state. Between 2006 and 2015, it's share of exports rose 88 percent. Most were destined for other Asian countries, including Pakistan. SIPRI noted that Beijing "is increasingly capable of producing its own advanced weapons and has become less dependent on arms imports," which fell 25 percent in the recent reporting period. But China, wrote researchers, "remains partly dependent on imports for some key weapons and components, including large transport aircraft and helicopters, and engines for aircraft, vehicles and ships."

For the first time, China's weapons exports exceeded those of France, long one of Europe's top arms sellers. From 7.1 percent of global exports between 2011 and 2015, France captured 5.6 percent in the last five years. Germany's share fell even further, from 11 percent to 4.7. The UK's share increased marginally, from 4.1 percent to 4.5 percent. Arms imports to Europe, meanwhile, fell by 41 percent.

Over the years global arms deals have had a steady increase and rise. Recently, the two nations that dominate on the global trade in arms have been the US and Russia. The overall statistics that is reported in this article is that the US' weapons export covers one third of the world while Russia dominates a quarter of the world, making both of them the largest exporters on weapons. In addition to that information, the position this author is standing seems a little ambiguous, however I believe  the author is trying to state that the amount of money the Russians and  Americans are spending are unnecessary compared to other nations like the UK, France, and many others. When it comes to my opinion on the matter of spending significant amount of money on weapons I believe it is a bit unnecessary. Then again, I do believe there are times when buying or selling weapons are necessary to protect oneself or to boost the economy of a state. But when it comes to US and Russia's situation i believe there position on the global arms race is bizzare, since the statistics that are compareable betweem these two nations and the rest of the world is drastic. In summary, the article reports a good amount of data that supports the fact that the US and Russia are significnat in our world's weapon business and the position of the author seems to stand is that it is unncessary for them to do so. furthermore, I also have an understanding that the US does have a responsibity to be the world's police but I believe they should makes some significant cuts for their military budget and sales.

Oakford, Samuael. "The US is Selling Weapons to Nearly Half the Countries in the World." 2 Feb. 2016. ViceNews 23 Feb. 2016. <https://news.vice.com/article/the-us-is-selling-weapons-to-nearly-half-the-countries-in-the-world>

Sudan and South Sudan to Open Borders for the First Time in Nearly Five Years
By VICE NewsJanuary 28, 2016 | 9:10 pm


Sudan and South Sudan will soon be one step closer to improved relations and to boosting economic ties nearly five years after they split into two countries. On Wednesday, Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir ordered the opening of his country's border with South Sudan for the first time since the south's secession in 2011. The move is aimed at improving economic links between the two nations. Their border was closed in 2011 when relations deteriorated after the south seceded through an independence referendum following a long civil war, taking with it three-quarters of the country's oil. "President Omar al-Bashir issued a decree today ordering the opening of borders with the state of South Sudan and ordered the relevant authorities to take all measures required to implement this decision on the ground," Sudan's state news agency SUNA reported on Wednesday. Michael Makuei Lueth, South Sudan's government spokesman, said the reopening of the border would boost economic ties. South Sudan currently occupies land containing an estimated 5 billion barrels of proven reserves, according to the United States Energy Information Administration. "This is a positive move in a right direction because this is what will lead to the normalization of our relations with Sudan," he told Reuters. The Sudanese government in Khartoum accuses its counterpart in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, of backing a rebellion in its Darfur region and a separate but linked insurgency in Blue Nile and South Kordofan. South Sudan denies the allegations. "We hope that South Sudan takes its helping hand away from rebel movements that are against our government in Darfur, Blue Nile, and South Kordofan," Sudan's information minister, Ahmed Bilal Osman, told Reuters on Thursday. Osman said he expected commercial relations to be restored and landlocked South Sudan would now be able to benefit from Sudan's coastal ports as it had done in the past. South Sudanese President Salva Kiir had unexpectedly and unilaterally announced a normalization of relations on Tuesday in response to Bashir agreeing to cut the transit fees for South Sudanese oil crossing Sudan's territory via pipelines to the Red Sea last week. After the reduced transit fees were announced, Kiir ordered South Sudanese troops stationed at the border to retreat five kilometres, a move that paved the way for the border to be opened, Osman said. Relations have been tense between the two countries since 2011 as they failed to agree on borders and the status of several regions that both sides claim sovereignty over.

For this week's article response I decided to write about the latest situtation in South Sudan. Recently, there have been reports that the relations between Sudan and South Sudan have opened up for both countries to improve and boost their economic ties. In addition to this information, the article also sums up the background and history of the two nations and how tensions were tight during 2011 and also the natural resouces the South possess which could benefit the North. Overall, when it comes to my personal opinon of these two nations; I feel content with the situation.Furthermore, I also believe to the bias of this article it was a bit hard to other than the article writing off the benefits of both countries Over the past few years I have lived in both these countries and witnessed the conflict that have immerged between them. Now that these nations have a agreed to help one another I hope and pray these nations would develop into wealthy nations in North-east Africa. 

"Sudan and South Sudan to Open Borders for the First Time in Nearly Five Years." 28 Jan. 2016. ViceNews. 1 Feb. 2016. <https://news.vice.com/article/sudan-and-south-sudan-to-open-borders-for-the-first-time-in-nearly-five-years>