Now that we've got YouTube, Google, and Facebook out of the way, how about another Hottest Trends List! This one's a little morose though. Like, international arms sales morose. So who loves American best-in-the-world weapons? Kings and dictators.
The new data, compiled by the Congressional Research Service, pooled Pentagon info from 2003 to 2010, shows America's top customers in the weapons biz—planes, guns, and everything between. Which is how the business works! But did you notice how difficult it was for the Egyptian people to unseat their government? And how much trouble (and death) they're encountering trying to shed the equally entrenched Egyptian military? That's because they're armed with America's finest, spending a world-topping $10.3 billion on American weapons during that seven year period—like that tear gas canister seen above.
The rest of our buyers?
2. Israel- $9.8 billion
3. Saudi Arabia- $9.5 billion
4. Taiwan- $7.1 billion
5. Greece- $5.5 billion
Saudi Arabia, although technically an authoritarian ally of the US, has a seriously dubious human rights history, and Greece has also cracked down heavily on its own people this past year. It should be no surprise unpopular governments want American guns—we're the best. Wouldn't you? [FAS]