Making a Killing: How the West Profits From Slaughter in Gaza and Yemen

An urgent work of investigative reporting, Making a Killing follows the deals, shadowy or brazen, connecting London, Washington, and European capitals to the violence and suffering in Yemen and Gaza. Andrew Feinstein and his team of arms trade experts trace a river of blood money flowing through Western nations. The profits of war are corrupting putatively democratic governments in a nightmare of spiralling violence, as money feeds the wars that justify the arms sales.

Yemen was all but invisible to the public. The news coverage barely gave a hint of the part Western governments played in supporting a coalition of two authoritarian regimes, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In stark contrast, Gaza became the world's first livestreamed genocide. Together, these conflicts shattered any notion of an international 'rules-based order'. Undergirding these wars is a network linking Western governments and arms dealers. Politicians habituated to breaking the law enjoy a revolving door into corporate boardrooms where executives enrich themselves from misery.

Ceasefire agreements barely worth the name are not going to hold back the violence. The scandalous cycle must be broken. Making a Killing is a devastating exposé that reveals the people who profit from the wars that rip apart the region.

Table of Contents:
Introduction

Section 1: How the World Was Made
1 A Time of Monsters
2 The End of History
3 The Forgotten War: Saudi Arabia and UAE Wage War in Yemen
4 The Genocide Will be Televised: War in Gaza

Section 2: The World as It Is: Corrupt, Deceitful, Deadly
5 The War from the Skies
6 The War on Water
7 The War on Land
8 Technological Warfare
9 How Do the Bombs Get There?

Section 3: Why the World Is As It Is & What We Can Do About It
10 The Shadow World of the Global Arms Trade
11 The Best Democracies Money Can Buy
12 Who Profits?
13 Is Justice Possible?

Coda: So, Who Murdered the Alnaouq Family?
Acknowledgements

About the Author :
Andrew Feinstein is a former ANC MP who served under Nelson Mandela. His acclaimed book The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade was made in an award-winning documentary. In 2024 he stood as an independent candidate against Sir Keir Starmer to highlight the government's complicity in the war in Gaza. He is currently Executive Director of the non-profit, Shadow World Investigations.

Ruth Rohde is a Researcher and Project Coordinator at Shadow World Investigations and serves as Program Manager for the Arms Trade Corruption Tracker project.

Jack Cinamon is a Researcher and Parliamentary Liaison at Shadow World Investigations and serves as Research Coordinator for the Arms Trade Corruption Tracker project.

Review :
Feinstein has written an authoritative guide to the business of war. Chilling, heartbreaking and enraging. The work of a knowledgeable, committed and angry activist . . . he has done a large service. The nobility and justice of Feinstein's sentiments are indisputable. With forensic rigour and moral clarity, the authors trace the bombs, money, corporations, governments and political networks that make mass destruction a lucrative industry. The book names the victims, follows the weapons, traces the money and shows that impunity is not accidental; it is organised. Making a Killing performs an essential act of witness and resistance. International law shall be our tool, but law without courage, evidence without action, and outrage without organisation will not be enough. Genocidal slaughter in the colonies is an extractive process. The bodies of people of colour are themselves mined through wounding and killing to generate wealth in the global North. This forensic examination of the mechanisms by which this accumulation by wounding, now central to late capitalist imperialism, is critical for us to understand the magnitude of this mode of production. The global arms industry is one of the most secretive and deadly on the planet, committed to shredding men, women and children in the name of 'national security'. This book explodes that myth with harrowing testimony and investigations into how the civilians of Gaza and Yemen are paying the ultimate price for an horrific industry. Read, weep and act. Most people are shocked by the horrific bombing of civilians in Palestine and Yemen. This book follows how the weapons are made, from the innocent victims back to the producers, dealers and distributors directly implicated in the value chain, as well as the governments complicit in these crimes. It will be invaluable for anyone challenging the arms trade.