As a proportion of gross national product, U.S. military spending has declined steadily since the mid-1980s. The end of the Cold War has given rise to calls for even more cuts in military spending. In early 1992, President George Bush proposed to reduce military spending by 3 percent per year,...

The article reviews Vernon Ruttan's new book, Is War Necessary for Economic Growth? Military Procurement and Technological Development. (Oxford University Press, 2006). The subject matter is limited to the post-World War II United States only. Studying six general-purpose technologies emerging...

The article discusses, first, systems control theory, which tells us how a self-regulating system, for example of social and political peace, should work. Second, it considers the theory of imperfect markets, which tells us just why peace and security frequently fail to be obtained. Third, it...

Offsets, arrangements that obligate the arms seller to reinvest (“offset”) arms sales proceeds in the purchasing country, are an increasingly important facet of the international trade in arms. They are used to justify spending on imports by promises that there will be significant benefits...

To generate effective policy to reduce the proliferation of illicit small arms in developing countries, governments must understand how the weapons are distributed and illegal stockpiles formed. This paper describes the structural characteristics of small arms supply chains and models mechanisms...

This chapter considers macroeconomic aspects of violence. It moves beyond the usual focus on war to argue the economic importance of all forms and aspects of armed and unarmed violence. Violence refers to acts of self-harm, interpersonal violence, and collective violence. Self-harm includes...