Viktor Bout & Co.: Niche Merchants of Shadow Globalization

The chapter offers a brief introduction contextualizing how Eastern-bloc small arms and light weapons flooded, in the wake of the Cold War, the major zones of armed conflict around the world, including, most prominently, in sub-Saharan Africa. It briefly characterizes the world of arms trafficking, and the types of actors involved in illicit transactions. Against this backdrop, the chapter traces the rise and fall of Viktor Bout, often dubbed the “merchant of death” in sensationalist coverage. A cursory overview of Bout’s career provides ample reason to reconsider that simplistic take, even as his significance in having played a key facilitator role in a niche in the global arms market cannot be denied. Besides examining Bout’s relative significance, the chapter also considers in its concluding discussion whether he may have been a proxy of the Russian state, and, if so, how and at what point.