Military Economy

Chapter 4 is concerned with economic issues and is divided into three parts. The objective of the first is to comparatively analyze the six GCC states’ military expenditures. It begins with a brief review of contemporary Gulf economies, then compares the six monarchies’ defense outlays. The next section focuses on questions of weapons acquisition: how, from whom, what, and for what reason do they purchase—corresponding to the political-structural explanatory variables outlined above. The absence of substantive oversight engenders corruption in weapons deals and its effects on the militaries. In the last part the attention shifts to the Gulf armies’ arsenals, as I look at the issue of the compatibility of weapons with missions, the curious neglect of naval forces, and offer a brief discussion on maintenance and facilities. Finally, a relatively new development, the build-up of indigenous defense industries in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, is comparatively appraised.

The Case Against Weapons Research

Weapons research seeks to design new or improved weapons and their ancillary structures. This chapter argues that weapons research is both morally wrong and morally unjustified. This “case against weapons research” requires lengthy discussion and the argument given here is a summary of that discussion. The central claim is that the “standard justification” for all forms of weapons acquisition and deployment, which appeals to defense and deterrence, does not stand up for weapons research because the harms caused by the latter projects into the future in unknowable ways. Weapons research produces practical knowledge in the form of designs for the means to harm, and its practitioners cannot know how this knowledge will be used in the future.

Defense and Security Policies

This chapter examines defense policies and movements toward acquiring capabilities that will permit India to project its influence over longer distances than has previously been the case. Despite institutional slackness and bureaucratic hurdles, India is acquiring significant military might to cope with a range of threats. It is also developing a power-projection capability, as can be inferred from some of its military acquisitions. Unfortunately, cost overruns, poor results, and persistent deals characterize the vast majority of its domestic military programs. Even its foreign-weapons-acquisition process evinces a process that is extremely cumbrous and unwieldy. Nevertheless, India has managed to suppress, or at least contain, all domestic challenges to its security and territorial integrity.