Arms for the Third World, Soviet Military Aid Diplomacy.

This article addresses the problem of military dominance in the Third World from the perspective of historical and structural linkages with the West. The author argues that military trends can be traced to the Cold War period when the U.S. poured military aid into newly emergent states willing to join the anti-communist campaign. This stimulated the development of large and sophisticated militaries within otherwise underdeveloped states, severely burdening local economies. As internal conditions worsened, hard-pressed Third World states employed the philosophy of total war built into Cold War diplomacy to shift their image of “the enemy” from external actors exclusively, to domestic social groups, using the military to maintain social control. Today, “security and development” is a prominent Third World slogan but it is a goal frustrated by three interrelated factors: globalization of the East/West conflict which is epitomized by interventions and regional arms races; reduction in foreign military aid; and consequent subordination of development needs to the demands of military preparedness. Rather than experiencing development, Third World states face chronic balance of payments problems and unemployment, largely because they are sectorally linked with the world market in a spiral of military-related economic relationships. Attempts to counter this trend must take into account the complex dynamic of the new international military order by planning for alternative security arrangements as well as alternative economic policies. To this end, the author suggests that a system of taxation of arms or military spending would be useful; it would provide incentives to convert arms industries into more socially productive enterprises without forcing the Third World to abandon all arms purchases.

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Europe: Arms for the Third World: Soviet military aid. diplomacy By Wynfred Joshua and Stephen P. Gilbert. Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore. 1969. 8, 169p. 66s.

India Quarterly A Journal of International Affairs ◽

10.1177/097492847102700136 ◽

1971 ◽

Vol 27 (1) ◽

pp. 94-95

Author(s):

Vijay Sen Budhiraj

Keyword(s):

Third World ◽

Military Aid ◽

The Third ◽

The Third World

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The War Business: The International Trade in Armaments and Arms for the Third World: Soviet Military Aid Diplomacy

International Affairs ◽

10.2307/2614574 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 46 (4) ◽

pp. 791-792

Author(s):

John Simpson

Keyword(s):

International Trade ◽

Third World ◽

Military Aid ◽

The Third ◽

The Third World

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