Abstract

‘Now hurry to the booths. We only have three days to make the world a better place.’ With these words, the annual security and defence fair ISDEF International Defense and HLS Expo in Tel Aviv was declared opened in June 2013. In contrast to governments’ secretive strategies for the collection of intelligence and arms procurement, security fairs are to a large extent open-access fora where lethal and non-lethal technology for military operations, surveillance and population control are showcased to a broader audience. The fairs stand as a clear proof of the internationalization of security technologies and practices, and are visible signs that the military industry has moved from serving domestic needs to relying on exports and global demands (Sköns and Dunne 2006). While the arms trade has been the object of much scrutiny (Feinstein 2011; Gifford 2004; Stavrianakis 2010), less attention has been given to the nature, culture and rules of security fairs. In recent years commercial security fairs have grown in number and expanded in size and have come to include more companies and actors on a global scale.