Editorial

These last months have come with many new developments around campaigns against war profiteers. We have already announced some of them in previous issues of the WPN - for example that Reed Elsevier will not organise the DSEi arms fair any longer. Now this month comes with news from the UK and the closure of the Defence Export Services Organisation (DESO). Also we learnt that AXA who was our War Profiteer of the Month in April, has started to disinvest partly from landmines and cluster munitions. These different news shows that campaigning against war profiteers can have an impact and make a change. But also brings up the question of what do we consider success in campaigning against war profiteers, as for example that Reed is not organising DSEi does not means that the arms fair will not continue to take place, but that someone else will be running it next time. One of the main exhibitors at the DSEi Arms Fair will be EADS - this issue's War Profiteer of the Month.

In WRI we are preparing for our annual Council meeting and Seminar “Gender and Militarism” in Israel at the end of August. During our Council meeting we will have time to discuss and work on where to go with our work against war profiteers. We would bring reports back from that meeting, and I hope to see some of you there!

Javier Gárate