How the arms industry corrupts political parties—interview with Andrew Feinstein
Andrew Feinstein is joint editor of The Monstrous Anger of the Guns: How the Global Arms Trade Is Ruining the World and What We Can Do About It. He spoke to Judy Cox about the new book
Andrew Feinstein
Thursday 02 January 2025
SOCIALIST WORKER Issue
Why did you publish this book?
Put very simply, war and militarism—and the arms trade that feeds them—have never been more relevant than it is today.
There is the devastating impact of weapons in the conflicts in Gaza, in Sudan, in Congo. But there is also the impact the arms industry has on the entire world.
In the case of Britain, the one area that there never seems to be a lack of money for is the weapons industry and “defence”.
So, the money which should be going in the NHS and should be going into scrapping the two-child benefit cap and keeping the winter fuel allowance is going into the military and wars like that in Ukraine.
The book sets out how this happens and why it happens.
And it shows that those who benefit from this trade primarily are the ruling elite. The arms trade benefits those who control political and economic power in this country.
How does the link between arms corporations and governments encourage corruption?
The arms trade is very corrupt—and its corruption oils the wheels of the political establishment.
It funds political parties and politicians make extremely large amounts of money out of the business of war.
There are lots of examples of how this happens in the book. But the book also gives voice to campaigners and activists from around the world who fight against the arms trade and militarism.
It includes all sorts of different approaches and campaigns, from litigation against companies, to direct action against arms companies.
It gives a lot of food for thought about what we can do practically to change the situation.
What do you think the best tactics to use against the arms trade?
Currently this is so important because our government is using anti-terror legislation to stop criticism of its support for Israel.
Journalists and activists are being accused of terrorism for opposing a genocide. In a good society, it would be those perpetrating genocide who would be seen as the terrorists.
Will Donald Trump’s return to the White House this month make things worse?
Trump’s election will mean that some things important will change, like abortion rights.
But militarism would not have changed because both Republicans and Democrats support US imperialism and Israel’s genocide.
When it comes to the role of militarism, both the Republicans and the Democrats have uncritically supported Israel’s genocide.
Both parties rely on defence companies for their funding and both parties are both parties of war and militarism.
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