Arming the Future: A Defense Industry for the 21st Century - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0876092466 ISBN 13: 9780876092460

Publisher: Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1999

Synopsis

As military procurement spending fell by more than 50 percent in the 1990s, mergers and Pentagon policies altered the defense industry in unexpected ways. More than 40 firms were joined to form the big fourLockheed Martin, Boeing McDonnell Douglas, Raytheon Hughes, and Northrop Grummanand a new round of transnational mergers may be on the horizon. New policies to encourage dual-use development, civil/military integration, defense conversion, and arms exports were successful in some ways, failures in others. The consolidated industry presents new challenges for American military policy, competitiveness, and international peace and security: How can the costs of weapon development be kept in check? With fewer competitors, how can innovation be assured? Is a more internationally oriented industry compatible with continued U.S. dominance in leading edge weaponry? Can proliferation of sophisticated conventional weapons be avoided? This book documents the defense industrial changes of the post-cold war decadewhy they happened and what they portend. It concludes by offering three different visions of the future: a fortress U.S./fortress Europe standoff; a go-at-it-alone American security strategy supported by a transnational defense industry; and a cooperative security/conflict resolution oriented alliance, which would slow arms innovation and restrain the spread of conventional arms.

About this title

About the Author

Ann R. Markusen is a Senior Fellow for Industrial Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, and she also serves as Director of the Project on Regional and Industrial Economics and as State of New Jersey Professor of Urban Planning and Policy Development at Rutgers University.

Edition details

• Publisher: Council on Foreign Relations Press
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0876092466
• ISBN 13: 9780876092460
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 442
• Editor: Markusen Ann R, Costigan Professor Sean S