Shades of Grey

At the end of his massively documented The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade , Andrew Feinstein notes the blurring of lines between formal and informal arms markets, the black and the white markets that merge into gray:

“While the large defence contractors like BAE and Lockheed Martin – the formal industry working hand-in-glove with government – would have us believe they are distinct from and should not be tarred with the same brush as the apparently shadier world of black and grey trades, the reality is different. The formal and clandestine worlds interact and intersect far more regularly than they would admit. And their dependence on each other is profound. Both form, in effect, the shadow world.”

Grey and black trading supposed the formal industry in various ways:

“It creates a market for goods that are defective or not of a sufficient quality to be used by the formal industry. Crucially . . . almost across the world, it sells to individuals, groups, countries and companies that the large contractors and countries are unable to, for legal, political or diplomatic reasons. Those who operate in the shadow world are often used as agents, brokers and middlemen by the companies of the formal trade. While the monetary value of the shadow trade might be small in comparison to the formal trade, its role in keeping formal prices high is crucial.”

Government oversight of the trade is made difficult or impossible by “the opaque way in which arms deals are concluded,” not to mention the “close relationship between governments and contractors, and the national security ‘imperative.’ . . . National security concerns, while sometimes legitimate, are often used to hide information about malfeasance that would in no way undermine security. Legislation overseeing the trade is inadequate and in many countries non-existent. Debate about such legislation is seldom meaningfully entertained” (524-5).