In this episode, we connect the dots between the arms trade and personal enrichment. Paul Holden and Jack Cinamon, contributors to Making a Killing: How the West Profits from Slaughter in Gaza and Yemen, share who gets rich off war, how people move between positions in government and arms companies - and even work for foreign governments and militaries - and why this is a problem.
Paul Holden is the Director of Investigations at Shadow World Investigations. Originally from Johannesburg, South Africa, he has over a decade of experience investigating cases of grand corruption and state capture, which is when elites gain sufficient control over the state so that they can bend it to serve their personal interests. He is the author of 6 books, including most recently: The Fraud: Keir Starmer, Morgan McSweeney, and the Crisis of British Democracy. He’s also a contributing author to Making a Killing: how the West profits from slaughter in Gaza and Yemen. You can follow Paul on X @pauleholden.
Jack Cinamon is a researcher and Parliamentary Liaison with Shadow World Investigations, where he investigates issues around militarism, the global arms trade, and all the corruption that comes with it. He is also a Researcher for the Corruption Tracker, where he documents the ways that the arms trade contaminates politics on a global scale. You can follow Jack on X at @jackcinamon and on Instagram at @jack.cinamon.
This conversation was recorded on July 27, 2026.
Pre-Order the Book: Making a Killing: How the West Profits from Slaughter in Gaza and Yemen (out Nov 24, 2026)
Resources:
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Disrupting Peace is a production of The World Peace Foundation. The show is produced by Bridget Conley and Emily Shaw. Engineering by Jacob Winik and Aja Simpson. Marketing and Social media by Frayashti Shekhawat. Show artwork by Simon Fung.
Special thanks to Lisa Avery, Michelle Anderson, Alex de Waal, and the Tufts Digital Design Studio team.
