Defense Industries in Asia and the Technonationalist Impulse

Abstract

Asia is a region of growing militarization and insecurity. It is increasingly characterized by rising defense expenditures and rapidly modernizing militaries, and subsequently it is increasingly becoming a zone of potential conflict. These security concerns are exacerbated by Asian countries’ expanding capacities for indigenous armaments production. Asian arms production is heavily influenced by concepts of techno-nationalism, which views autarky (self-sufficiency in armaments) as serving not only national defense needs, but also as maximizing national political, strategic, and economic autonomy. The technonationalist model is more than a set of goals; it also embodies a strategy for achieving autarky in armaments production, including the short-term exploitation of foreign-sourced technologies. What is the most interesting about Asian arms industries is how enduring they have been despite the fact that they produce few economic benefits and contribute so little to guaranteeing security of supply or expanding military-technological capacities for national defense. Asian armaments production has rarely been cost-effective or militarily significant in terms of turning out state-of-the-art military equipment. And yet, most large powers in Asia have not abandoned the idea of autarky in armaments production, often with explicit technonationalist industrial strategies. Despite problems with this technological-industrial approach, it is unlikely that these countries will abandon techno-nationalism anytime soon.