Another two years gone by, another edition of IDEX I have watched from the outside, like a would-be party crasher: full of grand visions of what it would be like to get in; held back by nerves and the lack of an invite. Ever since reading Robert Fisk’s account of his visit to IDEX 2001, I’ve been harbouring an intense curiosity regarding what goes on at this biennial show of global defense gadgetry.