United States arms transfer decision-making: determinants of sales versus aid

The United States is the most prevalent exporter of arms since the end of the World War II, but little quantitative research exists on its decisions to export. Instead, the literature focuses on the effects of their arms transfers (Blanton 2000, 2005; Sanjian 1999, 2001). Of course, a broader literature on arms transfers exists that focuses on United States decision - making from either a historical or qualitative perspective (Hammond et al 1983; Krause 1991; Mott 2002), which is a subset of the general arms transfer decision - making literature (Brauer 1991; Frank 1969; Harkavy 1975; Smith, Humm, and Fontanel 1985). All of the literature agrees upon the broad motivation for exporting arms – security, influence, and economics – which I focus on here.