Arms embargo is a set of regulations restricting the export of military equipment. These restrictions apply to munitions and other hardware, but also to software, technologies and services that can be used for both civilian and military purposes. As a result, arms companies must constantly monitor their foreign trade activities, including their use in conflict zones, in order to avoid violating embargoes and sanctions. They must ensure that their products are not deployed against civilians or transferred to unauthorized users via theft, battlefield capture, illicit exports or illegal sales.
Arms embargoes are inherently difficult to enforce due to their nature. Weapons are durable goods with long lifespans, and conventional weapons can be easily repurposed and retransferred from one recipient to another. As a consequence, many arms are shifted from state stockpiles to belligerents and unauthorized non-state actors by way of transfer orders, field purchases and stolen or captured weapons from warzones. Furthermore, they are often diverted by non-state actors into informal or grey market trading, where they can be reverse-engineered and replicated for cheap, unlicensed production.
The success of multilateral arms embargoes largely depends on a coalition of the willing. However, states of all export capacities often decide to break an embargo because they see political, strategic or economic benefits to doing so. For example, they may seek to secure access to resources, reinforce preferred political partners or alliances, increase interoperability between armed forces, or change the balance of power in their region.