After the Cold War: Obstacles and Opportunities in Cutting Arms Budgets

Abstract

The end of the Cold War offers the opportunity to shift resources from the military to the civil domain. Reductions in military spending by advanced industrial countries would be economically beneficial; they could help to reduce budget and trade deficits and thereby ease the debt burden on poor countries. There are, however, strong political and institutional obstacles to such a shift. Military power is thought necessary to counter the spread of violence and the proliferation of weapons in the developing countries and Eastern Europe. High-technology arms projects, favored by the arms industries, will put pressure on military budgets in the future. To overcome these obstacles, this paper proposes a new approach to security: economic cooperation and peaceful, democratic ways to manage conflicts; a defensive lower-technology military posture; and support to local conversion initiatives in defense-dependent areas by labor unions, churches, and other community groups.