As Wars Rage, Weapons Companies Reap Record Profits From Death and Destruction.

US military exports at their highest level ever. The bellicosity and aggression of Netanyahu, Putin, and others is the gift that never stops giving to the arms industry.

As wars rage, it’s always a good idea to take a step back and follow the money.

The money trail right now proves that certain companies in the US and Europe are profiting immensely from the extensive civilian death and suffering taking place across the globe. I would argue that Israeli’s well-documented war crimes in Gaza and elsewhere, combined with Russia’s extreme aggression in Ukraine, have combined to produce one of the greatest profit boosts to the arms industry in recent history.

A recent analysis published by the Spanish media outlet El Pais and almost completely ignored by the US media found that the stock capitalization of the largest arms manufacturers in the US and Europe is skyrocketing. Stock prices for these companies have risen an average of 59.7% since the day Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Last year, US military exports — driven largely by the sale of weapons to Israel and Ukraine — rose to the highest level ever.

This is stunning: since 2022, the value of the top seven US weapons manufacturers more than quadrupled the benchmark S&P index. US companies most benefiting from the war windfall include Raytheon (which makes the Patriot Missile System used by Israel), Honeywell, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and General Dynamics. The article quoted a financial analyst stating the obvious: “There are very strong capital flows toward the defense sector,” he said.

There is little doubt the profit motive is a significant driver of military conflict, civilian casualties, mass displacement, and human rights violations. Large media companies rarely provide this sort of framing in their coverage of war. There is also little doubt that arms manufacturers benefit from war and need it to grow. Our government all but ensures a steady flow of business for the arms industry to support our government’s far-flung military engagements around the world, which include the maintenance of 800 military bases and outposts in other countries.

The US devotes almost $1 trillion annually to military expenditures, more than the next nine highest-spending countries combined. Defense spending by the US accounted for nearly 40% of world military expenditures in 2023. (There are 193 countries in the world.)

The US has sent Israel $18 billion in military aid just this year — more than any year in its history in inflation-adjusted dollars. Our country also has sent $251 billion in military aid to Israel since 1959, far more than any other country. In fact, Israel receives more federal aid from US taxpayers than several US states, even adjusted for population. For context, Oxfam estimates we need about $23 billion just this year to wipe out extreme hunger for everyone on the planet.

If the US government can find such massive amounts of money for weapons of war, why can’t our leaders find enough to end child poverty? Or enough to provide everyone with adequate health care, housing, and education? Or enough to make people whole after a hurricane whose other-level destructive power is caused largely by the fossil fuel industry?

Why are these critically important questions not being addressed in the presidential campaign? Why were they not asked in the debates?

The fact is, war has become such an embedded feature of everyday life that most people never question the outsized role it plays in our economy or the mega-profits certain companies and individuals make from civilian death and suffering. Again, this is death and suffering that we largely finance with our own tax dollars. Most media outlets continually ignore this vital issue.

We must always fight like hell to transform our economy into one that profits from life rather than death.

-Steven