Defense procurement

Governments Ignoring Corruption in Arms Sales, Report Says

A new report highlights the growing levels of corruption in military procurement contracts involving unaccountable middlemen or agents, who are employed by corporations to secure defense contracts.

National government’s that “turn a blind eye” to the destructive impact of their defense export policies are undermining domestic and international legislation created to reduce corruption, Transparency International, the Berlin-based monitoring group, warned on Tuesday.

“Governments must take responsibility for defense export policy, especially when the cost can be the future stability of some of the most insecure parts of the world,” Katherine Dixon, Director Transparency International Defense and Security said in a press release.

Due to defense spending cuts in the West, major arms companies have turned their attention to opportunities across the global south and east.

In many of these countries, defense budgets are concealed from the public, which the report argues, “creates huge opportunities for abuse by corrupt third-party agents.”

The Transparency International report estimates that around 80 percent of U.K. exports of major conventional weapons have been delivered to markets assessed by TI to have high to critical corruption risk in their defense institutions. Meanwhile, France and the United States sent 71 percent and 53 percent, respectively.