The Shadow World, Inside the Global Arms Trade

Only a few days ago I was involved in an unpleasant incident in the Sahel that would not have happened had it not been for the proliferation of arms in the region.
Thirteen years after publication, Andrew Feinstein's The Shadow World is as relevant as ever, in fact, probably even more relevant.
There's no need for me to review this oft-reviewed masterpiece. All good things said about this book are true, and more. The research is mind-boggling. The content is disturbing to the max. Read this to understand the true nature of politics - power, money, greed. The politicians are owned. They are owned by the Military Industrial Congressional Complex - that revolving door through which senior members of government go back and forth between their government jobs and senior positions on boards of the defence and security industry.
There isn't a war the US won't invest in, from today's weapons supplied to Ukraine to keeping the Israeli army imersed in bullets to fire at Palestinians.
Andrew, with deep inside knowledge of arms and corruption within the ANC, was aware of the crooked nature of senior ANC officials even before the first democratic elections. Thabo Mbeki took corruption to new soaring heights by ignoring the plight if AIDS victims in order to skim off vast amounts of cash when purchasing uneccessary and and inappropriate aircraft for the country's ari force - equipment air force experts told government that it was inappropriate for the needs of a country without an outside security threat.
The UK, Canada, Brazil, and numerous other countries also have vast amounts of blood on their hands. Laws are by-passed when there's a lot of money to be made from arms sales, and some of the world's most unsavoury characters work hand in hand, often with government contracts, to ensure that no big sale is missed, no matter to whom, even if it means supplying more than one side in a conflict. Life is an afterthought, if at all. Bravo Andrew Feinstein! Never give up. You are an inspiration.