The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade

by Andrew Feinstein

Overview

The Shadow World presents the behind-the-scenes tale of the global arms trade, exposing in forensic detail the deadly collusion that too often exists among senior politicians, weapons manufacturers, felonious arms dealers, and the military--a situation that compromises our security and undermines our democracy.

Now a major PBS documentary
"An authoritative guide to the business of war. Chilling, heartbreaking, and enraging."--Arundhati Roy
Andrew Feinstein reveals the cover-ups behind a range of weapons deals, from the largest in history--between the British and Saudi governments---to the guns-for-diamonds deals in Africa and the current $60 billion U.S. weapons contract with Saudi Arabia. Based on pathbreaking reporting and unprecedented access to top-secret information, The Shadow World takes us into a clandestine realm that is as vitally important as it is shocking.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781429932714
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	03/14/2025
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	732
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Andrew Feinstein is the author of After the Party, a political memoir. He is currently an Open Society Institute Fellow and the founding codirector of Corruption Watch in London.

Table of Contents

List of Figures ix

Illustration Credits x

Dramatis Personae xi

Prologue xvii

Introduction xxii

Section I The Second-Oldest Profession

1 Sins of Commission 3

2 The Nazi Connection 19

Section II Nice Work If You Can Get It

3 The Saudi Connection 35

4 In Defence of Humanity 56

5 The Ultimate Deal or the Ultimate Crime? 74

6 Diamonds and Arms 98

7 Buckling to Bandar 127

8 And Justice for None? 154

Section III Business as Usual

9 Things Fall Apart-with Help from BAE 175

10 After the Capitalism BAE-Style 197

11 The Ultimate Cop-Out 225

Section IV The Arms Superpower

12 Legal Bribery 237

13 In the Name of Uncle Sam 262

14 Taking the Mickey, the Toilet Seat and the Hammer… in a Galaxy Far, Far Away 273

15 Illegal Bribery 305

16 Beyond Utopia, Hope? 330

17 America's Shop Window 373

18 Making a Killing: Iraq and Afghanistan 395

Section V The Killing Fields

19 Cry, the Beloved Continent 435

Section VI End Game

20 Bringing Peace to the World 501

21 Future Imperfect 523

Afterword to the Picador Edition 532

Acknowledgements 552

Notes and References 557

Index 667

Editorial Reviews

That the world is awash in weapons is not news. But the way weapons large and small flow from the United States, Britain and other producers to the world's villains is ever astonishing. In The Shadow World, Andrew Feinstein gives us a sweeping and troubling story of how this happens, who benefits, and what consequences follow…Feinstein…writes with a crusading spirit and a depth of detail that lend The Shadow World urgency and authority. Many of the sensational stories he tells have earned attention before, but he adds depth and shows how often patterns repeat.
—The Washington Post

John Tirman

This book is essential reading for anyone who cares about justice, transparency, and accountability in both the public and private spheres, and for anyone who believes that it is more important to invest in saving lives than in the machinery of death.”

Archbishop Desmond Tutu

[Feinstein] writes with a crusading spirit and a depth of detail that lend The Shadow World urgency and authority. Many of the sensational stories he tells have earned attention before, but he adds depth and shows how often patterns repeat…A comprehensive treatment of the arms trade, possibly the most complete account that has ever been written.”

Washington Post

This shocking expose unveils a shadow world of corruption, greed, slaughter, and other horrors, tawdry and gruesome in its criminality. It must be brought to a quick and final end.” —Noam Chomsky

“A devastating and scrupulously documented account of the greed, venality, and rampant corruption pervading the global arms trade...A brilliant and massively important book.” —Andrew J. Bacevich, Colonel, U.S. Army (Ret.), and author of Washington Rules: America's Path to Permanent War

“Feinstein writes with a crusading spirit and a depth of detail that lend The Shadow World urgency and authority….A comprehensive treatment of the arms trade, possibly the most complete account that has ever been written.” —The Washington Post

“Feinstein makes his case with an impressive amount of detailed research and a gift for narrative that make his findings hard to dismiss.” —Foreign Affairs

“An eye-opener…Everyone would do well to read this book and self-educate on what this world is all about, and then take some action in the voting booth....Tremendous.” —Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“Gripping… Feinstein has succeeded in writing a book that analyses the international arms market with a level of detail and a degree of referencing that may well be unique—what you rarely find in a book aimed at a wide readership… it is a singularly powerful study, and deserves to be ready by anyone who wants to see light shining on such a shadowy world… Impressive.” —Paul Rogers, The Independent (London)

“There is enough in Feinstein's book for a dozen film pitches. Bizarre characters leap from the page…. Remarkable and courageous… A heroic book by an author who, in writing it, has placed himself in the firing line.” —The Sunday Herald (Scotland)

“I initially expected that the title The Shadow World was hyperbolic. It is not. What Feinstein describes is the underbelly of globalization… The facts are so astonishing that they speak for themselves.” —Alex de Waal, Times Literary Supplement (United Kingdom)

“A highly pertinent, deeply damning indictment of the flourishing of the world's ‘second oldest profession'….Feinstein's book is sound, timely, and invaluable. Diligent readers will be rewarded.” —Kirkus (starred review)

“The Shadow World peels back the veil of secrecy behind which the global arms trade undermines accountable democracy, socioeconomic development, and human rights, causing suffering across the world… This book is essential reading for anyone who cares about justice, transparency, and accountability in both the public and private spheres, and for anyone who believes that it is more important to invest in saving lives than in the machinery of death.” —Archbishop Desmond Tutu

From the Publisher

A highly pertinent, deeply damning indictment of the flourishing of the world's "second-oldest profession." Global military expenditure was priced at $16.2 trillion in 2010--"$235 for every person on the planet," writes South African journalist and former ANC member of Parliament Feinstein (After the Party: Corruption, the ANC and South Africa's Uncertain Future, 2009). The trade in conventional arms, the legitimate tool of government (as opposed to weapons of mass destruction), engenders a secretive world, mainly due to enormous profits and the advance of nefarious political aims. The author focuses on the black market as well as the so-called grey market, where the government is involved "through legal channels, but undertaken covertly." He methodically examines the construction of the global military-industrial complex, including the breakup of the British arms trade after World War II, exemplified by British Aerospace's (now BAE Systems) courting of Saudi contracts, and the inroads of the Americans in the early '60s. After the war, the Americans had incorporated many key ex-Nazis into the West German intelligence service--e.g., Reinhard Gehlen and Gerhard Mertins, who secured beneficial arms deals for the U.S. and Germany. Feinstein looks closely at Margaret Thatcher and BA's deal with Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia in the mid '80s; and the pernicious legacy of Lockheed Martin and middlemen John Murtha, Charlie Wilson and Adnan Khashoggi. The author sees the collapse of the Soviet Union as key in changing the way arms dealers did business, since small, fractured states became the new clientele of rapacious dealers, from Croatia to Africa to Pakistan. He also provides portraits of the crusading investigators who have pursued these criminal cases--e.g., Helen Garlick of the UK's Serious Fraud Office. The detail is occasionally overwhelming, but Feinstein's book is sound, timely and invaluable. Diligent readers will be rewarded.

Kirkus Reviews