International stratification and Third World military industries

Abstract

Weapons production is increasing in the Third World, affecting the structure of the world arms transfer system. The quantitative and qualitative capabilities of Third World industries imply that the number of less developed countries (LDCs) producing major weapons will not increase dramatically in the future; that LDC defense production will remain a small fraction of the world's arms trade; and that military industries in the Third World will concentrate on defense items that are older and less complicated than technologies manufactured in the developed world. Various socioeconomic factors might explain the reasons for the disparities among arms producers. Factors of scale, particularly the existence of a large military to provide an adequate internal market, combined with financial resources and technically trained personnel to support the necessary industrial infrastructure, determine a state's comparative military-industrial capabilities. The inherent constraints of size and infrastructure will create a hierarchically stru tured world arms trade and production system as the military industries of states grow.