military-industrial complex

Examples of military-industrial complex in the following topics:

• Foreign Policy After the Cold War

  • The Cold War defined the political role of the United States in the post–World War II world: by 1989 the U.S. held military alliances with 50 countries, and had 526,000 troops posted abroad in dozens of countries, with 326,000 in Europe (two-thirds of which in west Germany) and about 130,000 in Asia (mainly Japan and South Korea).
  • The Cold War also marked the apex of peacetime military-industrial complexes, especially in the United States, and large-scale military funding of science.
  • These complexes, though their origins may be found as early as the 19th century, have grown considerably during the Cold War.
  • The military-industrial complexes have great impact on their countries and help shape their society, policy and foreign relations.
  • Furthermore, when no weapons of mass destruction were found after a military conquest of Iraq, there was worldwide skepticism that the war had been fought to prevent terrorism, and the continuing war in Iraq has had serious negative public relations consequences for the image of the United States.

• The Postwar Economy: 1945-1960

  • Many Americans feared that the end of World War II and the subsequent drop in military spending might bring back the hard times of the Great Depression.
  • The automobile industry successfully converted back to producing cars, and new industries such as aviation and electronics grew by leaps and bounds.
  • A housing boom, stimulated in part by easily affordable mortgages for returning members of the military, added to the expansion.
  • The need to produce war supplies had given rise to a huge military-industrial complex (a term coined by Dwight D.
  • Many industries soon followed, leaving cities for less crowded sites.

• The Effects of the Cold War

  • The Cold War also institutionalized a global commitment to huge, permanent peacetime military-industrial complexes and large-scale military funding of science.
  • Following the Cold War, Russia cut military spending dramatically, and the adjustment was wrenching, as the military-industrial sector had previously employed one of every five Soviet adults and its dismantling left hundreds of millions throughout the former Soviet Union unemployed.
  • In addition, the entire military nuclear infrastructure requires protection, and that requires a commensurate allocation of funding.
  • Aside from tangible measures of national defense, such as standing military and security forces and hardware, are various institutional structures of government and functionality that have less to do directly with military or security factors, but more to do with underlying public attitudes and risks.
  • National military establishments and alliances had to be reconfigured.

• The Cold War's Costs and Consequences

  • The Cold War also institutionalized a global commitment to large-scale and permanent peacetime military-industrial complexes, as well as the large-scale military funding of science.
  • Military expenditures by the U.S. during the Cold War years were estimated to have been $8 trillion, while nearly 100,000 Americans lost their lives in the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
  • Environmental remediation, industrial production, research science, and technological development have all benefited from the carefully managed application of radiation and other nuclear processes.
  • On the other hand, despite termination of the Cold War, military development and spending has continued, particularly in the deployment of nuclear-armed ballistic missiles and defensive systems.
  • Heightened fear of nuclear risk can result in resistance to military drawdown.

• The Debate over American Imperialism

  • A "social-democratic" theory says that imperialistic U.S. policies are the products of the excessive influence of certain sectors of U.S. business and government—the arms industry in alliance with military and political bureaucracies and sometimes other industries such as oil and finance, a combination often referred to as the "military-industrial complex. " The complex is said to benefit from war profiteering and the looting of natural resources, often at the expense of the public interest.
  • In chapter one, Mahan argued that modern industrial nations must secure foreign markets for the purpose of exchanging goods and, consequently, they must maintain a maritime force that is capable of protecting these trade routes.
  • Mahan's argument provides a context that also justifies imperialism by industrial nations such as the United States .

• National Security Policy

  • National security policies, designed to protect the state, include military security as well as non-military security.
  • Military security implies the capability of a nation to defend itself and/or deter military aggression.
  • Military security also implies the ability of a nation to enforce its policy choices through the use of military force .
  • In today's complex system of international trade, characterized by multi-national agreements, mutual inter-dependence, and limited natural resources, economic security refers to whether or not a nation is free to develop its own economy in the manner desired.
  • For a nation to be able to develop its industry and maintain economic competitiveness, it must have available and affordable natural resources.

• American Indians and the War Effort

  • Some 44,000 American Indians served in the United States military during World War II.
  • The most significant of these changes was the opportunity—as a result of wartime labor shortages—to find well-paying work in cities, and many people relocated to urban areas, particularly on the West Coast with the buildup of the defense industry.
  • Around 800 American Indian women worked as nurses and supported the military as administrators.    
  • Not counting the Purple Heart, more than two hundred military awards were given to American Indian soldiers.
  • Johnston, a missionaries' son, grew up on a reservation and understood the complexity of the Navajo language.

• Higher Education

  • During the 19th century, many small colleges helped young men make the transition from rural farms to complex urban occupations.
  • During the 19th century, the nation's many small colleges helped young men make the transition from rural farms to complex urban occupations.
  • In 1861, Morrill resubmitted the act with the amendment that the proposed institutions would teach military tactics as well as engineering and agriculture.
  • without excluding other scientific and classical studies and including military tactic, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, in such manner as the legislatures of the States may respectively prescribe, in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions in life.
  • By 1875, the compulsory labor requirement was dropped, but male students were to have an hour a day of military training in order to meet the requirements of the Morrill Land Grant College Act.

• Feedback, Concurrent Control, and Feedforward

  • Organizations use these systems when their size and complexity make more informal practices based solely on interpersonal communication and relationships impractical, unreliable, and ineffective.
  • Often organizations with strict bureaucratic control find themselves less able to adapt to changes in the marketplace, their industry, or the legal environment.
  • While software development may benefit from a more autonomous structure, for example, other industries benefit from the tight controls and tall hierarchies of bureaucratic control.
  • An example of a bureaucratic feedback system is the military, with its strict hierarchy and clear chain of command.

• Superpower Rivalry

  • As the majority of World War II had been fought far from its national boundaries, the United States had not suffered the industrial destruction or massive civilian casualties that marked the wartime situation of the countries in Europe or Asia.
  • During the war, the U.S. had built up a strong industrial and technological infrastructure that had greatly advanced its military strength into a primary position on the global stage.
  • -Soviet lines was reflected in the NATO and Warsaw Pact military alliances, respectively.
  • Additionally, much of the conflict between the superpowers was fought in "proxy wars," which more often than not involved issues more complex than the standard Cold War oppositions.