Direct action/protest of this type seems to change very little, of course there are some amazing examples every now and then, but on the whole its not working.I also have no answers and have in the past out of complete fustration have blocked nuclear bases etc.
Like you I think it is disgraceful that such a huge arms 'fair' has happended. I hope we all wake up soon.
peace,love&solidarity

Direct action almost always wins - so long as sufficient force is used against a sufficiently weak target. For example, blockading all the stores in a chain, every weekend, for two months is almost guaranteed to stop them using workfare - because of loss of profits and bad publicity. Blockading an arms fair for one day, on the other hand is almost guaranteed to fail - even with 2000 people doing all they can to mess with it. You would need properly massive numbers of up-for-it people to make any kind of dent on the arms trade.

While I do agree that a 2000-strong demonstration against arms dealers this year would have been nice, it would also have been entirely symbolic. It's really clear, I think, why that isn't worth making happen today. For one thing, we're in a financial crisis. A lot of people are in desperate need, and I think they would rather use direct action to make their lives better - fighting for small acheivable aims - instead of getting nicked for the sake of symbolism. For another, to make a mass demonstration happen you need to organise around issues that directly affect people, and the arms trade just isn't doing that in the UK right now.

In 2000 it made sense to draw attention to the horrors of capitalism by moralising - people were doing pretty well economically, and telling everyone that capitalism was opressing them and ruining their lives wasn't easy. Now in 2013 things are different. There is a *real* possibility of a millitant mass movement which in time may spill over into attacking the millitary-industrial complex directly, but right now desperately needs anarchists to mobilise at the grassroots and build community resistance. Why should activists burn themselves out for the sake of symbolism when there is important work that desperately needs doing?

At the end of the day, there is no way to challenge the millitary-industrial complex without an international mass movement. So, I would urge you to put your energy into fighting the cuts and empowering communities - this is the only way we will ever stop the likes of desi for good!

Oh, and while we're on the topic - lets remember that we live in a "first world" nation here. The people directly affected by the arms trade are very far away. Is our protest on their behalf empowering and encouraging them, or propagating the imperialist idea that a few white british people can fix things for everyone else? Just saying...

(I understand this is all going to be hard to hear as it sounds like you have put a lot of energy into fighting the arms trade. This is good work, but you did ask why people aren't joining you and I thought I should explain why I am not. In general I would rather not criticise other activists in a time like this where the state is desperately trying to divide and rule us. But your article was basically criticising me first, so I felt it was important to respond.)

Having been involved in the 2001 and 2003 actions the most obvious problem with attempting to stop, rather than protest, DSEI is the location. An electrified railway on one side, Victoria dock on the other, leaving two tiny strips of land as the only way in ( and easy for the cops to defend.) Anyone know any suicidal pilots?

Yup, pretty much echoes my own thoughts and the thoughts of others that I've talked to about why the DSEi and other arms trades are not 'mass' actions. The arms trade is currently a distraction and a bad place to put energy for radicals and I think people know that.

The complication is that there are a few small NGOs and organisations that have the arms trade as their remit so they are always going to work on it as a issue whether or not it's a strategic place for revolutionaries to put their time.

We should recognise that these NGOs and people should not be allowed to set the direction and strategy for the rest of us.

Yours is a perfect example of a slightly delusional perspective of what happened on the day, and views like that are partly responsible for derailing stratgetic thinking.

Stop obsessing about important 'your' campaign is, stop saying everything that happens is a victory no matter how rubbish and ineffective it actually is.

It's been interesting to read the comments to this article and I think it is important that we all discuss those things. However, I think people get involved in particular parts of the struggle for a variety of reasons. Both sides have got a point, but I am unlikely to stop longterm anti-arms trade activism because something else comes along. I have seen many great campaigns fall due to the fact that people leave a persistent campaign and temporarily join a new movement which appears to have more energy for a while. All parts are important. For me, opposing the arms trade and opposing the cuts or whatever at home is the same, and proper outreach/grass roots organising will expose this.. The people affected by weapons far away are as important to me as any challenges we face here.

To 'anon' who wrote:
'Oh, and while we're on the topic - lets remember that we live in a "first world" nation here. The people directly affected by the arms trade are very far away. Is our protest on their behalf empowering and encouraging them, or propagating the imperialist idea that a few white british people can fix things for everyone else? Just saying...'

This relates to my previous point. During DSEi there were groups from Bahrain and Turkey etc involved, who have been at the receiving end of many weapons sold at DSEi. And people from Palestine have asked me numerous times to work against the arms trade where I am. For me this is called international solidarity, not imperialism. The imperialst element would be these people being bombed by weapons which have been exported from here unopposed. As far away as people may be (as if that mattered) they are often friends and people struggling for the same thing.

Having said all that, there is no reason you can't do both. Most activist I know are not just involved in one thing. Lets support each other in any small way we can and not just try to convince everone to work on whatever we have most energy to focus on at the moment.