Arms Industries: New Suppliers and Regional Security

As part of its mission, the Industrial College of the Armed Forces of the National Defense University continuously examines trends in defense industries worldwide. It should come as no surprise, then, that Dr. Ralph Sanders, the school's J. Carlton Ward, Jr. Distinguished Professor (now emeritus), formed and directed a research team of students to look into the rise of arms industries in newly industrializing countries. In this book, Dr. Sanders has updated, revised, and added significantly to the initial study, completing it as a Senior Fellow with the University. In the United States we think chiefly of our own country and other major powers such as the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and France as international arms producers and exporters. Sometimes we include a few other European nations (Sweden, Switzerland and Belgium) and Japan. Yet, almost unnoticed by most of us, a number of the more technologically advanced Third World countries have built significant arsenals. These nations now manufacture and export sizable quantities of arms. In this volume, Dr. Sanders explores the nature of arms production growth in these industrially vibrant countries and assesses the consequent implications for US national security. This volume represents both a concrete dividend for Industrial College support of Dr. Sanders' research and a notable product of the National Defense University's Senior Fellowship program. Dr. Sanders' analysis should increase understanding within the national security community as well as throughout the public at large about the dynamics of arms production in the Third World. His recommendations should provide guideposts for decisionmakers confronting major policy questions associated with these new arsenals. Bradley C. Hosmer Lieutenant General, US Air Force President, National Defense University