Convair B-36, a US strategic bomber for hydrogen bomb, on display at the Castle Air Military Museum in California. File photo.
A study conducted by the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, a US think-tank founded in 2019, revealed that the United States is involved, indirectly, in 34 of the 46 armed conflicts currently going on in the world.
The report, titled Promoting Stability or Fueling Conflict? The Impact of U.S. Arms Sales on National and Global Security, explains that the US is providing weapons to one or more sides in the conflicts, thus fueling wars around the globe.
Among the warring nations supplied arms by Washington, 15 received weaponry worth $50 million or more between 2017 and 2021, which contradicts the long-standing argument that US weapons supplies promote stability.
The report also questions the lack of transparency regarding the use of arms sold to these countries, or whether they are used to enable human rights abuses.
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According to the Quincy Institute, a key case in this regard is the large amount of military aid sent to Israel and the lack of access to information about this matter.
“Continuing to provide large quantities of military aid to Israel in the absence of a diplomatic strategy to promote peace between Israel and the Palestinians is a recipe for perpetuating a conflict that will continue to destabilize the region,” the report stated, “given Israel’s continued occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, its ongoing settlement expansion, and its own growing military capabilities.”
Another clear example—and the most recent one—is the Russia-Ukraine conflict, in which the US became Kiev’s main collaborator, despite the fact that most countries are demanding a peaceful solution to the crisis.
According to the report, the United States has committed $17.5 billion of the military aid authorized for Ukraine since the start of Russia’s special military operation on February 24, 2022. It questioned the lack of an accompanying diplomatic strategy on the part of the US authorities to end the conflict, which “risks enabling a long, grinding conflict that will both vastly increase the humanitarian suffering in Ukraine and risk escalation to direct U.S.–Russian confrontation.”
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Another case cited in the report is Taiwan, which received almost $20 billion in arms from the US over the past five years.
Tension erupted between the United States and China following the visit of the speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, to Taiwan, thus violating the “One China” principle.
The visit was followed by more weapons deals with Taiwan, that generated even greater tension in the Pacific.
In early September, the Biden administration approved more than $1.1 billion in arms sales to Taiwan in a package that includes up to 60 anti-ship missiles and another 100 air-to-air missiles.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute revealed that between 2017 and 2021, the US supplied 39% of the war equipment sold around the world.
(Ăšltimas Noticias) by Ariadna Eljuri, with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/AF
