Yuri, a native of Ukraine, explains as the film begins that "there's one firearm for every 12 people on the planet. The only question is: How do we arm the other 11?" Yuri's profession as a gunrunner begins when he witnesses a mob hit at a restaurant in New York. A revolutionary thought then enters his head: selling guns is like selling food. Restaurants will always be in demand because people will always need food. The same applies to guns. As long as people want to kill other people, guns will always be in demand. Yuri sets out to become an arms dealer, eventually enlisting his brother Vitaly (Jared Leto) as his second-in-command. As Yuri ascends from his modest beginnings, he realizes that he's actually good at what he's doing. The more entangled he gets in the international web of gun trading, the less moralistic he becomes. Or rather, the more detached he becomes. He argues that tobacco and alcohol kill more people than his products. After all, he doesn't kill anyone-he just sells guns.
Business really explodes for Yuri when the Soviet Union collapses. The arms buildup that transpired during the Cold War gives Yuri a seemingly unlimited supply of arms. Through his military contact, his Uncle Dmitri (Eugene Lazarev), Yuri becomes almost the sole profiteer of this operation. He also becomes globally known, but not necessarily respected, for his "take-no-sides" attitude. A colleague, Simeon Weisz (Ian Holm), detests Yuri's apolitical take on the arms trade. Simeon only sells to the side he wants to win, though he admits later on in the film that it's becoming harder to do so. Yuri's amoralism permits him to deal with everyone and anyone, including a barbaric and sadistic dictator from Liberia, Andre Baptiste (Eamonn Walker). Yuri never sold to Osama bin Laden, however, because "he was always bouncing checks."
Throughout Yuri's escapades, he manages to marry successful model Ava Fontaine (Bridget Moynahan). They have a "don't ask, don't tell" policy which keeps them afloat for a substantial portion of the film. The strength of their relationship is put to the test when Yuri's longtime nemesis, Interpol special agent Jack Valentine (Ethan Hawke), begins to close in on Yuri's illegal activities. In Jack's mind, every time he detains Yuri, it means that he's keeping a gun out of one person's hands for that much longer, and therefore lengthening the life of another person.
"Lord of War" is the first film I can recall which actually shows the process of the arms trade. The opening montage is the packaging of a gun through the view of a bullet. We see everything, from the bullet's creation, packaging, dealing and finally, we see it as it goes through the skull of a young boy. It acts as evidence of the very fact that Yuri tries to disprove throughout the film. Arms manufacturers and dealers are in the end producing nothing more than death.
Each day, the United States sells more arms than Yuri does in a year. The U.S., U.K., China, France and Russia are the five countries that export the most arms. They are also the five permanent members of the U.N.'s Security Council. As Yuri tells Valentine, he's "a necessary evil. Without operations like [his] it would be impossible for certain countries to conduct a respectable war." As long as countries need people like Yuri, they'll continue to exist unchecked. The question becomes, what will it take for us to no longer need people like Yuri? Will the weight of their consciences finally force them to collapse, or will money really always talk?