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With UK Business Elites Profiting From War, It’s No Wonder the Syrian Conflict Continues
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On Saturday 14 April, the UK joined the US and France in carrying out airstrikes against chemical weapons facilities in Syria. Despite the fact that only 25% of the British public back the move, the prime minister has received widespread support from many Conservative and Labour MPs who argue that so-called “humanitarian intervention” is required to prevent Syrian president Bashar al-Assad from continuing to massacre his population and breach international law.
The main problem with this argument is that it prescribes violent humanitarian intervention by heroic Western powers as the solution to the Syrian conflict, whilst totally failing to address the many ways in which those powers actively benefit from the continuation of war.
And boy do they benefit from war. Whether through weapons sales, illicit capital flows or conflict commodities, violence in the Middle East and the Global South often means excess profits in the Global North. And the UK is one of the greatest beneficiaries. From HSBC’s money laundering for Mexican drug cartels, to BAE Systems’ weapons sales to corrupt, repressive regimes, UK companies, supported by the UK government, play an active role in promoting violence around the world. Here’s how.
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