Saudi Arabia has passed India to become the world’s biggest arms
importer last year as concerns about Iran’s ambitions increase tensions
in the Middle East. Saudi spending rose 54 percent to $6.5 billion last
year, while India imported $5.8 billion, according to data released
Sunday by IHS, a leading analyst of the global arms trade. Imports will
increase 52 percent to $9.8 billion this year, accounting for $1 of
every $7 spent globally, IHS estimated, based on planned deliveries.
“This is definitely unprecedented,” said Ben Moores, the report’s
author. “You’re seeing political fractures across the region, and at the
same time you’ve got oil, which allows countries to arm themselves,
protect themselves and impose their will as to how they think the region
should develop.” Saudi Arabia is building its arsenal amid concern
about a geopolitical shift in the Middle East as the United States looks
for help in fighting the Islamic State group, said David Cortright,
director of policy studies at the University of Notre Dame’s Kroc
Institute for International Peace Studies. Negotiators are nearing a
deal to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions and lift sanctions against the
country, which would create new opportunities for economic development
and threaten Saudi Arabia’s longstanding ties with the United States.
The biggest beneficiary of the growing Middle Eastern market was the
United States, with $8.4 billion of arms shipments to the region last
year, up from $6 billion in 2013. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab
Emirates imported a combined $8.7 billion of defense systems last year —
more than all of Western Europe. Boosting arms purchases may be a way
for some elements in the Saudi government to remind the U.S. of its
importance as an ally because defense contracts translate into jobs that
are critical to many communities, Cortright said. Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, all based in the U.S., were the
three biggest arms exporters among companies last year, according to the
IHS Global Defense Trade Report. “It may be a way of tempering that
rapprochement with Iran,” Cortright said. “You can think of it as …
deepening ties in a time of uncertainty, as a possibly greater role with
Iran looms on the horizon.” The Saudis are also worried about the rise
of Islamic State and are cooperating with the U.S.- led coalition. “From
an objective security perspective, Saudi Arabia should be cooperating
with Iran to deter and push back ISIS in Iraq. The old ‘the enemy of my
enemy is my friend’ approach,” Cortright said. “But Saudi Arabia has
deep ideological and geopolitical differences with Iran that prevent it
from considering such a temporary marriage of convenience.” A deal on
Iran’s nuclear program also may fuel the longstanding sectarian conflict
between Saudi Arabia, where the Sunni branch of Islam is dominant, and
largely Shiite Iran. Iran is actively supporting fighters in Syria and
Iraq and is backing Shiite rebels in Yemen, which toppled the country’s
government last month. “We’ve all been waiting for the storm in the
Middle East,” Moores said. Until recently, Saudi procurement programs
were limited by the country’s ability to use advanced systems, Moores
said. But with a growing number of educated and technologically agile
people, the Saudis can now make use of increasingly high-tech hardware.
Globally, trade in military hardware rose for a sixth straight year in
2014, pushing worldwide imports to $64.4 billion from $56 billion. The
U.S. remained the biggest arms exporter, with shipments rising 19
percent to $23.7 billion. Russia ranked second at $10 billion, up 9
percent from 2013. France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Israel,
China, Spain and Canada rounded out the top 10. India was the
second-biggest defense importer in 2014, followed by China, the UAE,
Taiwan, Australia, South Korea, Indonesia, and Turkey. IHS Inc., based
in Englewood, Colorado, is a provider of global market, industry and
technical analysis.
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