The International Arms Trade

Reconfiguration of the Defence-Industrial Landscape

by Kenneth Boutin

Book cover: The International Arms Trade

Extent: 304 pages

Publisher: University of Exeter Press

Subjects: Social Sciences 

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(February 2025)

ISBN: 9781804131268

6.1 x 9.17 inches

Price: $126.00

In stock

This volume considers the coevolving nature of the arms trade and defence-industrial processes and the resulting complexity of the international arms-transfer system. It situates arms transfers in a defence-industrial landscape where arms production is increasingly transnational, involving states that have not featured as notable arms producers.


This volume provides an analytical framework for the international arms-transfer system and offers important insights into that system as it is being transformed by the development of the defence-industrial landscape. Breaking new ground by situating international arms transfers within the reconfiguration of the global defence-industrial landscape, the book demonstrates the coevolving nature of arms transfer and defence-industrial processes. Understanding how the arms-transfer system is evolving is crucial due to its impact on the proliferation of conventional arms and on efforts to control the arms trade. Emerging arms-supplier states are undermining the established hierarchy of the international arms-transfer system. The importance of the international arms trade is demonstrated by its contribution to the defence of Ukraine and by ongoing concern over the proliferation of advanced arms to rogue states, a trend in which emerging supplier states feature prominently. This volume is intended for those with a professional or research interest in international security and strategic studies, either in general or in terms of the international arms trade, arms-trade control, or defence development issues.

  • By (author) Kenneth Boutin