Press Release

CDI Experts Featured in Lord of War Documentary

January 18, 2006

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Senior Analyst Rachel Stohl and Senior Advisor Hon. Philip E. Coyle, III, both of the World Security Institute’s Center for Defense Information, are prominently featured in the new documentary, “Making a Killing: Inside the International Arms Trade,” available on the newly released Lord of War DVD. Coyle and Stohl are featured along with several other notable small arms experts providing in-depth analysis of the international arms trade.

The documentary highlights the methods and consequences of both the illegal and the legal international trade in small arms. Covering a wide range of topics, from the use of small arms in conflicts in West Africa and the origins of the ubiquitous AK-47, to child soldiering and arms brokering, the documentary discusses the hard reality behind the events dramatized in Lord of War. Using footage from the film as well as from real events, and narrated by incisive expert commentary, “Making a Killing” engagingly and effectively illustrates why small arms and light weapons have been rightly called weapons of mass destruction.

Stohl’s areas of expertise include the international arms trade, small arms and light weapons, landmines, failed states, children and armed conflict, including child soldiers, and the United Nations. Prior to joining CDI, Ms. Stohl was a Herbert Scoville Peace Fellow at the British American Security Information Council (BASIC) in Washington, D.C. Ms. Stohl previously worked at the United Nations Center for Disarmament Affairs in New York and at the Program for Arms Control, Disarmament, and Conversion in Monterey, Calif.

The Hon. Philip E. Coyle, III, is a recognized expert on U.S. and worldwide military research, development and testing, on operational military matters, and on national security policy and defense spending, including defense acquisition reform and defense procurement. Mr. Coyle also has extensive background in missile defense, in military space systems, and in high-technology weapons, such as high power lasers and other directed-energy weapons. From his many years at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Mr. Coyle also has considerable experience in nuclear weapons research, development, and testing, and nuclear weapons effects, including electromagnetic pulse. From Sept. 29, 1994, through Jan. 20, 2001, Mr. Coyle was Assistant Secretary of Defense and Director, Operational Test and Evaluation, in the Department of Defense, and is the longest serving director in the 20-year history of the office. In this capacity, he was the principal advisor to the secretary of defense on test and evaluation at DOD.

Ms. Stohl and Mr. Coyle are available for press interviews and inquiries regarding their appearance in the new documentary, “Making a Killing: Inside the International Arms Trade,” available on the newly released Lord of War DVD.

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