The death trade
This article provides an in-depth survey of the current state of international arms trading. A couple of choice quotes:
Vast government subsidies are sought after in the pursuit of arms trading.
US and European corporations receive enormous tax breaks and even lend money to other countries to purchase weapons from them. Therefore tax payers from these countries end up often unknowingly subsidizing arms sales.
While there are countless examples, a recent one that made a few news headlines was how Lockheed managed to get US subsidies to help sell a lot of fighter planes to Poland at the end of 2002/beginning of 2003. This was described as the biggest deal ever in Europe at that time.
And this:
So who profits most from this murderous trade? The five permanent members of the UN Security Council—the USA, UK, France, Russia, and China. Together, they are responsible for eighty eight per cent of reported conventional arms exports.
There's a lot more in that article, including who's buying what from whom, the effect of the so-called "War on Terror" on the arms trade, and the continued funneling of military aid to decidedly non-democratic nations. This should be required reading.