(KU) U.S. grant programs that provided training to international military and civilian personnel since 1995 are tied to fewer conflict-related civilian casualties in foreign countries that were recipients of the U.S. security aid. However, arms-sales programs are ineffective at improving human rights in those countries that purchase U.S. weapons and services, according to a new University of Kansas study.
The researchers said the study, published in Political Science Quarterly, is particularly timely given the Trump administration's focus on cutting the federal government’s international aid, including overtures about reductions in programs that provide U.S.-funded foreign military training while either keeping or increasing foreign military sales.
"We precisely show that if the U.S. is truly interested in building a more peaceful world where the militaries of foreign states do not get involved in egregious human rights violations and abuses, then we need more of what the government apparently wants to eliminate," said Mariya Omelicheva, a KU associate professor of political science and the study's lead author.
Omelicheva's co-authors are Brittnee Carter, a doctoral student in the KU Department of Political Science, and KU alumnus Luke Campbell, assistant professor of political science at Northwest Missouri State University. […]
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See the study in Political Science Quarterly (Vol. 132, No.1, 2017):
Military Aid and Human Rights:Assessing the Impact of U.S. SecurityAssistance Programs
