Abstract

Although there is often opposition to individual wars, most people continue to believe that the arms industry is necessary in some form: to safeguard our security, provide jobs and stimulate the economy. Not only conservatives, but many progressives and liberals, support it for these reasons.

Indefensible puts forward a devastating challenge to this conventional wisdom, which has normalised the existence of the most savage weapons of mass destruction ever known. It is the essential handbook for those who want to debunk the arguments of the industry and its supporters: deploying case studies, statistics and irrefutable evidence to demonstrate they are fundamentally flawed, both factually and logically.

Far from protecting us, the book shows how the arms trade undermines our security by fanning the flames of war, terrorism and global instability. In countering these myths, the book points to ways in which we can combat the arms trade’s malignant influence, reclaim our democracies and reshape our economies.

Paul Holden is a historian and researcher. His previous books include Who Rules South Africa? (2012), The Devil in the Detail: How the Arms Deal Changed Everything (2011) and The Arms Deal in Your Pocket (2008). He was also lead researcher on Andrew Feinstein’s book The Shadow World (2012) and on the documentary feature of the same name released in 2016. He currently works as director of investigations at Corruption Watch UK.

‘Debunks the myths commonly used to defend the indefensible. The author helps us to recognise those myths on the basis of a breathtaking, well-researched array of cases, and leads us to the conclusion that change is not only needed, but is actually possible.’
Ana Gomes MEP, member of the EU Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

‘Essential reading for all those who believe that there are alternatives to the incessant cycle of wars and conflict. It is a calm and systematic analysis, which leaves the reader in no doubt that the arms trade can and must be challenged.’
Anna Macdonald, Control Arms

‘A ground breaking effort in myth-busting, bringing together the foremost scholars on the global arms trade to untangle the web of lies surrounding this deadly industry. A must-read for anyone who wants to understand the players who make modern warfare and all its attendant suffering possible.’
Nick Turse, investigative journalist and author of Kill Anything that Moves

‘Holden and his colleagues’ measured, succinct and cogent analysis of the shallowness of conventional wisdom is invaluable. This excellent book deserves the widest possible readership.’
Nicholas Gilby, author of Deception in High Places: A History of Bribery in Britain's Arms Trade

‘Indefensible not only explains what is wrong with the arms trade, but also provides us with the tools needed for change.’
Wendela de Vries, Dutch Campaign Against the Arms Trade

‘Bristling with facts, figures, and incisive case studies, Indefensible shines a bright light on the dark underbelly of the global arms trade. Cynicism, corruption, and sheer stupidity have produced a world awash with weapons. Holden and his collaborators show how we got into this mess and offer a way out.’
Andrew J. Bacevich, author of America's War for the Greater Middle East

'In an unflinching assessment of the arguments that support the global trade in conventional weapons, Holden holds this new book up to its title, finding such myths to be indefensible.'
Arms Control Today