Stohl, Rachel

Abstract
On January 15, 2014, the United States released a document describing its new policy governing transfers of conventional weapons. The policy revision was long overdue, as the new publicly released document, Presidential Policy Directive 27 (PPD-27),[1] replaced a classified directive that came out in 1995.[2]
The world has changed dramatically since the end of the Cold War. Until the release of the new policy document, however, the United States had been using policy guidance rooted in the geopolitical challenges created by the fall of the Soviet Union in making its arms transfer decisions and in outlining policy priorities and approaches to the global arms trade. According to a White House summary, a multi-year interval review of U.S. arms export policy “concluded that the 1995 conventional arms transfer policy was effective but needed to be updated to address 21st century national security and foreign policy objectives.”[3]
Thus, the new U.S. policy more accurately reflects the reality of U.S. arms transfers today. The Obama administration began its review when it came into office, but U.S. officials have said the impetus to finish the review came from events during the Arab Spring, when canisters of tear gas emblazoned with “Made in the USA” dominated pictures of the uprisings in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. Questions surrounding U.S. arms sales to Egypt and other Arab countries led to increased scrutiny over the process of determining whether to transfer conventional arms and whether arms sales in fact led to U.S. influence over the recipient.
Some critics maintain that the new policy was released in order to justify recent U.S. arms sales that have come under fire and the overall surge in U.S. arms sales during the Obama presidency, reaching a high of nearly $63 billion in new foreign military sales agreements alone in 2012.[4] The White House dismissed that criticism, stating that U.S. arms transfer policy “continues to be guided by two fundamental tenets: to support transfers that meet the legitimate security requirements of our allies and partners in support of our national security and foreign policy interests; and to promote restraint, both by the United States and other suppliers, in transfers of weapon systems that may be destabilizing or dangerous to international peace and security.”[5] Regardless of the rationale, the new policy better represents the current realities of the global arms trade.
The new arms transfer policy states the goals of U.S. conventional arms transfer policy, outlines the process and criteria that guide U.S. arms transfer decisions, clarifies the ways in which U.S. policy on conventional arms transfer supports arms control and arms transfer restraint, and explains how the United States supports responsible arms transfers around the globe.
Of particular note is that the policy “highlights the importance the United States places on key factors such as respect for human rights, international stability, homeland security, counter-terrorism, combatting transnational organized crime, and supporting non-proliferation.” This framework sets the tone for the new policy and differentiates it from the 1995 policy, which was more focused on “transfers of weapons systems that may be destabilizing or dangerous to international peace.”[6]
Read the article online here.