Exploring the relationship between military spending and human rights performance in South Asia

Abstract

The relationship between military spending and human rights is one of the most prominent issues in political economy. Yet, the linkage between the two is empirically under-developed. We examine the effects of militarisation on human rights performance in six South Asian economies for the period 1980–2006. Our findings demonstrate that an increase in military spending significantly reduces human rights. Acceleration of military spending is also associated with decline in human rights performance. By gauging the effect of military spending on human rights conditions during war and peace years, we found that irrespective of war or peace years, any increase in military spending is detrimental to human rights conditions. Further, we find that the negative impact of military spending on human rights is conditioned by increase in neighbours' military spending. Given the wide range of socioeconomic and political problems ailing South Asian countries, these results gain significant importance. The study suggests that reduction in military spending could help reallocate the resources to productive purposes, thereby paving way for development and progress. This could reduce social unrest and economic insecurity, thereby increasing government's respect for human rights.