Globalization and the Military Industrial Base: Where Should U.S. Policy Go

摘要

The collapse of the Soviet Union and the corresponding post cold war wave of globalization have served as the stimulus to the evolution of the U.S. military industrial base. While the prospects of globalization have provided the defense industrial base with rewards including reduced costs as a result of competition and greater access to foreign technologies it has also created some threats. Some of those threats include the potential to equip hostile nations with advanced weapons and technologies, loss of certain domestic defense capabilities and technologies and a dependence on foreign sources of supply. This project highlights two of those vulnerabilities which include global supply chain interdependency and the competition for the global brain trust . While recommendations are offered as partial solutions to the identified vulnerabilities they highlight the broader issue which is that policymakers must adapt to a 21st century way of conducting business to harness globalized industrial behavior in order to ensure the continued security and long term economic prosperity of the U.S.