Web Extra

Few people are familiar with Viktor Bout, but his business dealings have influenced world affairs for more than a decade.

In sponsorship with the Security Policy Studies Program, the Elliot School welcomed Douglas Farah and Stephan Braun, co-authors of “Merchant of Death: Money, Guns, Planes, and the Man who Makes War Possible” last week.

In their book, Braun, a senior official with the World Bank, and Farah, Los Angeles Times national correspondent, investigate Victor Bout, a man who has allegedly sold weapons and armaments to poor countries around the globe for more fifteen years.

Farah and Braun tracked Bout’s dealings during the 1990s and found Bout had been phenomenally successful. According to Braun, Bout is “better at capitalism than many of us who were born into it.”

While Russia was in turmoil following the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Bout took control of large quantities of abandoned airplanes and poorly guarded ammunition depots, the authors said.

“(The idea) was not rocket science, but certainly brilliant,” Farah said.

As time passed, Bout’s main hub of activity became sub-Saharan Africa, the authors said. During the 1990’s, he sold weapons to impoverished countries embroiled in bloody civil wars like Liberia, the Congo, and Sierra Leone. He would sell his clients everything from assault rifles and ammunition, to attack helicopters and anti-aircraft weapons, they added.

His clients used these weapons to fight, as Farah termed them, “honey pot wars” which were fought over resources of great value.”

What gives Bout an advantage over other arms dealers is his ability to transport his own goods. He also registered his aircraft to countries such as Liberia, so that it would be harder to track them, the authors said. Bout is oftentimes described as a “taxi driver” who can fly anything, anywhere, they said.

“(Bout) has more experience than anyone else with moving arms in the air . and he can provide any number of services,” said Braun. “He is a one stop shopping entity, providing his clients with everything they need.”

In addition to his work in developing countries, Bout has been known to deal with powerful states and organizations, the authors said. When there was a humanitarian crisis in the Congo, a calamity made possible in part by arms Bout provided, his planes transported food from the United Nations to this area. These same planes contained ammunition meant to further the conflict in this area, the authors said.

The United States has also been known to work with Bout, the authors said. Most recently, his planes were contracted to transport goods to the military and security agencies to Iraq. The U.S. Treasury Department made business transactions with Bout illegal in 2004, but the government did not officially cut ties with him until 2006, the authors said.

Though both the U.S. and the U.N. see Bout as a threat to world peace, there is little these organizations can do to deter his efforts at this time, due to the protection afforded him by the Russian government, the authors said. Moreover, Bout had a head start on evading Western powers, having remained inconspicuous for a number of years before the U.S. and its allies realized the extent of his activities.

“A huge amount of what he has done is not illegal,” Farah said. “It may be morally wrong, but it is not illegal.”