At least since the days of that 1867 exhibit, exports have been important to small arms manufacturers. Similarly, economic motives are of growing importance today, even though a few years ago it was primarily geopolitical reasoning that lay behind foreign sales. Although they have been overshadowed by the firepower, range, and technological dazzle of intercontinental missiles, jet fighters, and combat tanks, small arms are the weapons of choice in many of today's conflicts-internal struggles rather than wars between sovereign nations. These weapons belong to a well-established class manufactured by a mature industry, but there is little information about the numbers of small arms and light weapons being produced, transferred, or stockpiled. And the lack of good data is merely the beginning of the problem.
Small arms are the orphans of arms control.
Throughout the Cold War years, arms control and disarmament efforts focused exclusively on major weapons systems. In consequence, there are no internationally accepted norms or standards regarding small arms. Their production, trade, and possession are essentially unmonitored and unregulated-subject to the ups and downs of demand rather than international policy. Belatedly, and spurred by growing pressure from human rights, humanitarian, and other nongovernmental organizations, governments are scrambling to address the dangers of the global dispersal of small arms. However, most of the emphasis is on cracking down on illegal transfers.