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Providing weapons to government security services in fragile countries does not reliably lead to greater influence and an ability to determine how and when the weapons are used (Photo: Wikipedia)

Why EU arming foreign militaries will backfire

In 2013, I was working with the United Nations peacekeeping mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) as the head of the small arms and light weapons unit.

One afternoon I was invited by senior members of the army to visit their weapons store near the main army barracks in Juba.

The store contained weapons procured from Germany, Belgium, Hungary, the Soviet Union, Ethiopia, China, and Israel.

Many of the weapons were decades old.

A few weeks after my visit, in December 201...

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Disclaimer

The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s, not those of EUobserver

Author Bio

Klem Ryan was a member of the United Nations Security Council Panel of Experts on South Sudan 2015 to 2018, coordinating the Panel from 2017. He served with the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan between 2013 and 2015.

Providing weapons to government security services in fragile countries does not reliably lead to greater influence and an ability to determine how and when the weapons are used (Photo: Wikipedia)

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Author Bio

Klem Ryan was a member of the United Nations Security Council Panel of Experts on South Sudan 2015 to 2018, coordinating the Panel from 2017. He served with the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan between 2013 and 2015.

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