Vol. 3 No. 1 (2008)
This issue contains a symposium on the British Military Industrial Complex (MIC), together with two stand-alone papers on Middle East cooperation, by Raphael Bar-El and Miko Malul and small arms proliferation in Asia by Stefanie Koorey, Stefan Markowski, Peter Hall, and Jurgen Brauer. The British MIC symposium brings together economists and noneconomists to consider a range of issues in arms production and governance, raising issues that deserve further research by economists. David Edgerton, argues for a political economy understanding of the important role that military industry has played in the U.K., while Keith Hartley considers the present relationship between the U.K. and European defense industrial bases and likely future conflicts. Nicolas Gilby provides evidence of past corruption in British arms deals, using documents recently made available through a Freedom of Information Act filing, while Anna Stavrianakis details the problems with the present system of arms export licences. U.K. dependence on the U.S. for nuclear weapons is forcefully shown by Dan Plesch, while Chris Langley analyses the continuing militarization of the U.K.'s universities. Jonathan Feldman provides a case study of one aspect of BAE Systems' past attempts at conversion to argue that the initiative failed for internal political reasons rather than for technical ones. Finally, Derek Braddon considers the changing ownership patterns of British arms producers and their implications for governance. Overall, the articles give a wide-ranging analysis of the British MIC and make clear the importance of continued research on a sector that is undergoing considerable change with important implications for future economic, political, and military security.
Published:
2008-01-01
