Trust for Research and Education on the Arms Trade (Treat)

The Trust for Research and Education on the Arms Trade (Treat) advances public knowledge and informed debate on the international arms trade through impartial, evidence-based research and education. Founded by experts to fill gaps in independent analysis, its core values emphasize transparency, academic integrity, nonpartisan rigor, human rights, peace, and enabling critical policy discourse. It drives funding by prioritizing accessible scholarship that builds evidence bases for public engagement and policy reform, believing systemic change arises from informed understanding of arms trade impacts rather than direct advocacy.

Treat funds research projects dissecting arms transfer policies, UK arms exports compliance with international humanitarian law, arms industry influence on government and defence policy, effectiveness of arms control treaties and disarmament initiatives, humanitarian and developmental consequences of armed conflict, economic costs of weapons production, global weapons regulation, and relationships between arms trading, conflict escalation, and peacebuilding. Supported activities include publication of reports, academic books, and investigative analyses; workshops, seminars, and conferences on security policy and peace studies; postgraduate research fellowships for students exploring arms proliferation and conflict prevention; public briefings, lectures, and educational resources disseminating findings to policy analysts, investigative journalists, and campaigners. Beneficiaries encompass academic researchers, university departments in international relations and security studies, specialist think-tanks on disarmament, postgraduate students in peace and conflict studies, journalists probing arms deals, and publics seeking evidence on arms trade's role in humanitarian crises and human rights violations.

Treat excludes advocacy, campaigning, lobbying, core costs, or capital projects, funding only evidence-based research and educational outputs freely available for debate. Distinctive for its singular niche in arms trade scholarship, independence from government and defence industry, preference for long-term impartial analysis over activism, and support for researchers advancing transparency in global arms systems, it prioritizes UK-based academics and non-profits with international remits addressing conflict-affected regions through rigorous, accessible peace and security education.