From Rocks to Rockets: How Mineral Wealth Fuels the Arms Trade

• In Event: Lightning Talk: Natural Resources and Environmental Politics

Brief Overview

This study investigates if high demand for critical minerals drives arms imports. Using resource curse theory, it tests if mineral rents fund repression and conflict via arms transfers, analyzing global data to uncover a new driver of instability.

Authors

• Samuel Majka, Illinois State University

• Michael S. Hendricks, Illinois State University