The economic reorganization of the military sector at the beginning of the twenty-first century

Abstract

The end of the Cold War has led to several changes in the arms industry at the world level. The expected “peace dividends” did not appear, as the crisis on arms markets, due to the decrease in military expenditures, was not yet overcome when the defence budgets picked up again. Since the 2000s, the market logic has been encouraged in Western countries to restructure the arms industries: the development of generic or dual technologies was encouraged, as well as the diversification on civil markets. If the consolidation of the American arms industry has been quickly achieved, thanks to a strategy of rationalization and cost reduction, as well as of integration of military activities, the results have been less convincing in Western Europe, while the countries of ex-Warsaw pact suffered from a dramatic industrial crisis.

Citation

Fontanel, J. and Coulomb, F. (2008), "The economic reorganization of the military sector at the beginning of the twenty-first century", Fontanel, J. and Chatterji, M. (Ed.) War, Peace and Security (Contributions to Conflict Management, Peace Economics and Development, Vol. 6), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 67-81. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1572-8323(08)06005-0