Cut Ties with War Profiteers
Ending war and militarism involves exposing and opposing those who profit from it. Through the Cut Ties with Transnational Weapons Corporations (W-TNCs), the Resist US-Led War Movement exposes the war profiteering of W-TNCs and opposes them by isolating them from the institutions that give them financial and ideological support. Join the Cut Ties with W-TNCs campaign and wage local actions against war profiteers in your region!
ABOUT THE campaign
There is no way to calculate how many deaths result from direct conflict, especially as leading military forces label civilian deaths as “enemy combatants”. It is estimated that there are over 26 million refugees in the world displaced by war and militarization in their home countries. Almost 55 million people were living in internal displacement because of this reason by the end of 2020. Famines from militarized blockades and destruction of local food systems kill hundreds of thousands, with Yemen alone at over 130,000 deaths from starvation since the US-backed Saudi blockade. The US military clocks in as the world’s largest environmental polluter and one of the largest carbon emitters. But as American monopoly capitalist John D. Rockefeller put it, “The way to make money is to buy when blood is running in the streets.”
In 2020, the combined profits of the top 5 Weapons Transnational Corporations (W-TNCs) (Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics) equaled over $250 billion. Added to this is in 2021 is almost $12 billion in US taxpayer-provided military assistance, alongside the whopping $138 billion of all US weapons exports the same year. $105 million of this went to just 5 people, the CEOs of top 5 companies. It is therefore clear who is profiting from US-led wars.
Ending war and militarism involves exposing and opposing those who profit from it. Through this campaign, the Resist US-Led War Movement will expose the war profiteering of W-TNCs and oppose them by isolating them from the institutions that give them financial and ideological support.
In 2020, the combined profits of the top 5 Weapons Transnational Corporations (W-TNCs) (Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics) equaled over $250 billion. Added to this is in 2021 is almost $12 billion in US taxpayer-provided military assistance, alongside the whopping $138 billion of all US weapons exports the same year. $105 million of this went to just 5 people, the CEOs of top 5 companies. It is therefore clear who is profiting from US-led wars.
Ending war and militarism involves exposing and opposing those who profit from it. Through this campaign, the Resist US-Led War Movement will expose the war profiteering of W-TNCs and oppose them by isolating them from the institutions that give them financial and ideological support.
What are Transnational Weapons Companies?
Transnational weapons companies (W-TNCs) are corporations with global operations overseeing and gaining profits from the industrial mass production of high-tech weapons of war even if a percentage of their production is in non-weapons material (such as civilian aircraft or engines). They are private and sometimes state-owned companies, though all of them exist to profit from arming and re-arming state militaries to use in their wars against other countries or their own people. In short, war brings the demand for what they supply.
Imperialist and neocolonial states alike make use of these weapons to assert and defend their violent rule. Sales and “military aid” packages are encouraged for fascist governments that use them against their own people in ways that serve imperialist foreign policy. In a self-fulfilling cycle, W-TNC products are used in wars of aggression in order to lay claim to more land and labor power for control of more production, including the production of even more weapons.
Imperialist and neocolonial states alike make use of these weapons to assert and defend their violent rule. Sales and “military aid” packages are encouraged for fascist governments that use them against their own people in ways that serve imperialist foreign policy. In a self-fulfilling cycle, W-TNC products are used in wars of aggression in order to lay claim to more land and labor power for control of more production, including the production of even more weapons.
Objectives
- Expose the business activities, oligarchic behavior and militaristic outlook of W-TNCs and the realities of their products’ use in wars of aggression and oppose these through locally, nationally and internationally coordinated campaigns
- Lead and coordinate actions to institutionally isolate W-TNCs as a means to more effectively target the users of W-TNC products, the government and military forces of US-led war
- Build unity between localized W-TNC campaigns to launch coordinated actions, and between W-TNC campaigns and other campaigns related to US-led war (border militarization, occupations, prisons and political prisoners, overseas bases and military exercises, environmental justice, military spending, etc.)
Campaign Conduct
Campaigns against W-TNCs can take many forms. This overall campaign is designed to coordinate the work of Resist members around the world leading decentralized localized campaigns in a way that solicits support from other Resist members’ campaign base and, wherever possible, concentrate joint actions against W-TNCs and the institutions that support them nationally and internationally. In this way, we can make united blows against a shared target. Local Resist members are encouraged to start their own localized campaign linked to any of the major W-TNCs. Non-Resist members are encouraged to enjoin the work of their pre-existing campaigns to this campaign network as well.
Through its global committees and regional chapters, Resist will coordinate regular meetings where representatives of localized campaigns can report on their work, hear progress of other campaigns and propose joint actions to be taken either in support of their local campaign or against a specific target that is national and/or international in scope (such as a prop action against company whose weapons were proven to have been used in an attack against civilians). There will also be regular information researched and disseminated for members on the global situation of US-led war and the monopoly weapons industry to provide ever-evolving content for localized campaigns and joint actions.
Localized campaigns should include actionable activities to mobilize members and their base to confront their target. These activities could include anything from petitions to signing open letters, writing letters to the editor, confrontational direct action or anything that requires someone to contribute their voice to a demand in some way. There should also be propaganda and political education components to ensure consistent exposure of W-TNCs' role in the larger picture of US-led war.
Download the full campaign paper to read more.
Through its global committees and regional chapters, Resist will coordinate regular meetings where representatives of localized campaigns can report on their work, hear progress of other campaigns and propose joint actions to be taken either in support of their local campaign or against a specific target that is national and/or international in scope (such as a prop action against company whose weapons were proven to have been used in an attack against civilians). There will also be regular information researched and disseminated for members on the global situation of US-led war and the monopoly weapons industry to provide ever-evolving content for localized campaigns and joint actions.
Localized campaigns should include actionable activities to mobilize members and their base to confront their target. These activities could include anything from petitions to signing open letters, writing letters to the editor, confrontational direct action or anything that requires someone to contribute their voice to a demand in some way. There should also be propaganda and political education components to ensure consistent exposure of W-TNCs' role in the larger picture of US-led war.
Download the full campaign paper to read more.
Campaign Resources
Webinar on resistance and campaigns against "weapons trade shows" or "arms fairs" in the Netherlands, Australia and France, conducted November 2025.
Shut Down CANSEC - Video from the 2022 protest against CANSEC, Canada's global defense and weapons expo.
End Military Exercises Across the Globe - Video from the 2024 Cancel RIMPAC Campaign
No to Defense Supplier Summit - Video from the 2023 campaign against the Boeing DSS in Seattle