War Profiteers News

The times they are changing...following the reference to Bob Dylan's Masters of War at the Barcelona seminar now what about times they are changing? Is all the social movement militancy we are seeing this year a sign that the times are indeed changing? The Arab spring, the indignad@s/occupy movement, and many others - are they really a statement that the 99% have just had enough?

Jordi Calvo Rufanges

The 15-M movement - which began occupying city squares on May 15 - has not emerged as a movement with necessarily overt antimilitarist, pacifist or nonviolent overtones. It has, however, from its very inception declared itself as “pacifist”, and conducted its protests through “peaceful means” and “without violence”. Without having carried out a detailed analysis of what this means exactly I can say that the many thousands of people in the squares of the Spanish State, have opted to carry out actions and raise their voices without using violence.

During the first weekend of October the international seminar "War Profiteering and Peace Movement Responses" took place in the sunny city of Barcelona. The seminar was hosted by Justícia i Pau (Centre Delàs) and Fundació per la Pau and organised together with War Resisters' International (WRI) and the European Network Against Arms Trade (ENAAT).

The Seoul International Aerospace & Defence Exhibition (ADEX) was held from the 18th to 23th of October, 2011 at a Seongnam airbase.

Many organisations including; Weapon Zero Team Korea, World Without War, and PSPD Center for Peace and Disaramament hosted the 2011 Peace & Disarmament Exhibiiton “Let's Talk about Peace Now” at the Bosingak Square during the Seoul Adex, from 22th to 23th.

It's a Saturday afternoon, and inflatable kayaks are out on the River Thames. But these aren't just any boats- they're paddled by activists who are blocking the path of the HMS Dauntless, a huge warship on its way to dock outside the worlds largest arms fair. As the police chase down the boats, the battleship pulls into the Royal Victoria Dock in East London. This was one of many actions against the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEi) arms fair, and opened a week of creative action.

Each fall the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space organizes a week of local actions called Keep Space for Peace Week. This year events were held from October 1-8 and the theme chosen by our leadership was the expanding use of drones in U.S. wars in the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa.

Protest actions took place throughout the U.S. and in six other nations at major space weapons installations and factories like Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and General Dynamics.

Did you know that in 2012 Venezuela will open the first AK-47 factory in Latin America?

In June 2005 Venezuela bought 100,000 Kalashnikov AK-103 assault rifles–a variant of the classic AK-47 model- from the Russian Federation in a transaction worth 54 million dollars.

The press widely reported that the objective of the purchase was to introduce the assault rifle as a standard weapon for the National Armed Forces.

The Fellowship of Reconciliation announces Militarism Watch, a project to increase the capacity in social change movements and academia for research that serves activism and campaigns against US militarization at home and abroad.

Company Snapshot

The Samsung Group is South Korea's largest conglomerate and a global multinational corporation leading several major industries. It is composed of numerous businesses, including Samsung Electronics, the world's largest electronics company, Samsung Heavy Industries, one of the world's biggest shipbuilders and Samsung Engineering & Construction, a major global construction company. These three businesses form the core of Samsung Group and reflect its name — the meaning of the Korean word samsung is "tristar" or "three stars". Samsung Group has a corporate responsibility for South Korea, forming a vital core part of the South Korean economy, accounting for more than 20% of the nation's total exports. The company has a powerful influence on the country's economic development, politics, media and culture. Samsung Group is South Korea's largest company and exporter, the 5th largest transnational corporation in the world. Starting in the 1990s, Samsung became a world leader in memory chip production, and in recent years it has been one of the largest producers of flat-panel displays and mobile phone sets. A few years ago the company was being described as the "new Sony," but it is now facing intensified competition as well as a wide-ranging corruption investigation launched by Korean prosecutors in late 2007.

Gangjeong is a small, quiet village of 1,900 residents on Jeju Island. The area has a lot of natural beauty and scenery. There is a UNESCO-designated biosphere preserve, Gurumbi, the only volcanic broad and flat rock in South Korea, which is one kilometre long beside the sea, and the Route 7 of the Ole' trekking course, which is a popular walking tour of Jeju Island.