Adeline GuerraApril 16, 2013 06:29

World’s first arms trade treaty is historic but leaves much to do

Commentary: Many states provided leadership to strengthening terms of the treaty.

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Gun mad: a National Shooting Sports Foundation trade show in Las Vegas. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Rare are the days when we can truly say the world is becoming a better place. At the United Nations General Assembly on April 2, 2013, history was made when 155 states voted in favor of an Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), opening the opportunity countries begin signing on June 3. Many states play an important role in manufacturing and selling conventional weapons; the first in line being the United States, Great Britain, France, China and Russia, the permanent five of the Security Council. These are the same states that vote on a regular basis on UN peacekeeping mandates, arms embargoes and the most critical conflicts underway.

UN General Assembly passes landmark treaty on global arms trade

Priyanka BoghaniApril 2, 2013 12:11

The vote on the Arms Trade Treaty followed an earlier attempt to form a 193-member state consensus on the treaty which was blocked by Iran, Syria and North Korea last week.

Interactive map of the world's top importers and exporters of small arms

Kyle KimDecember 3, 2012 07:15

We map the most comprehensive and latest small-arms trading figures worldwide, according to data released by the Small Arms Survey.

In-depth series: The global race to bear arms

Kyle KimNovember 29, 2012 17:58

The UN General Assembly has adopted the first-ever treaty to regulate the multibillion-dollar-a-year conventional arms trade. In this in-depth series, GlobalPost reports from key locations in the global weapons trade, booming in Europe, Asia and the United States, to the violent fallout from Mexico to the Middle East and Africa.

Peru, Chile ramp up territorial dispute

Simeon TegelJuly 25, 2012 17:14

LIMA — Historical tensions between Chile and Peru are rising ahead of a keenly awaited ruling on the South American nations’ disputed maritime frontier. The latest source of friction has been a leaked draft of Santiago’s national defense strategy, published in Peru, in which Chilean President Sebastian Pinera warns his country must be ready for armed conflict.

Obama asks Medvedev for "space" until after election, not realizing the exchange was caught on microphones

Amy SilversteinMarch 26, 2012 11:48

"This is my last election ... After my election I have more flexibility."

Navy fires first electromagnetic railgun in test (VIDEO)

Alexander BesantFebruary 29, 2012 17:39

The US Navy is getting closer to developing a powerful electromagnetically-powered gun for warships that fires at nearly seven times the speed of sound.

Iran: Search for nuclear weapons was a failure, United Nations says

Amy SilversteinFebruary 22, 2012 11:57

UN officials did not reach an agreement with Iran.

Girish GuptaFebruary 2, 2012 14:18

Colombia capital bans firearms

Capital city is banning weapons in an attempt to bring down the murder rate.

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A police officer checks the inside of a van for firearms at a checkpoint in Ciudad Bolivar, a shantytown with one of the highest rates of urban violence in Bogota, Colombia, on February 01, 2012. GUILLERMO LEGARIA/AFP/Getty Images (GUILLERMO LEGARIA/AFP/Getty Images)

A gun ban in Colombia's capital Bogotá came into force yesterday, as the city's mayor hopes to pull down the murder rate and end the city's violent reputation abroad, a hangover from the days of drug lord Pablo Escobar.

Fallujah birth defects a result of US weapons?

Priyanka BoghaniJanuary 6, 2012 15:54

The incidence of birth defects in Fallujah appears to be 14 times higher than it was in Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the use of the atom bomb.