Handbook of Defence Politics: International and Comparative Perspectives by Isaiah "ike" Wilson Iii & James J. F. Forrest

Author:Isaiah "ike" Wilson Iii & James J. F. Forrest [Wilson, Isaiah "ike" Iii & Forrest, James J. F.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political Science, General, International Relations, Reference, Social Science, Media Studies
ISBN: 9781136639470
Google: phqpAgAAQBAJ
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 17549317
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2008-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Effects of Middle East Defence Spending

Because the Middle East stands out in its preponderance of resources allocated to the military, it is logical that several unique factors other than those noted above may be contributing to the region’s bloated defence budgets. In this regard, a cursory examination of indices of development shows that the region in relation to other parts of the world has significantly lower levels of attainment in all dimensions of the World Bank’s indexes of governance:26 (a) voice/accountability; (b) political stability; (c) government effectiveness; (d) regulatory quality; (e) rule of law; and (f) control of corruption. Put differently, the region exhibits a governance gap. Without exception, governance is weaker than would be predicted by income and standard explanatory variables. For the Arab Middle East, the increasing authoritarian nature of many regimes lies at the centre of the governance gap. Successful economic performance in the 1960s and 1970s helped cement an ‘authoritarian bargain’ with citizens effectively trading restrictions on political participation in exchange for economic security and the pubic provision of social services and welfare. Since the 1970s the governance gap, while varying somewhat across the region,27 has been affected by such factors as oil, conflict and geopolitics.28 For example, in the oil countries, while vast oil revenues lessened the need for taxation and permitted redistribution, such revenues also supported large internal security apparatuses protecting authoritarian governments and preventing popular mobilization.29 The strength of this coercive apparatus has been further reinforced by exceptionally high levels of defence expenditures. Added to these is the role of external powers that have consistently supported authoritarian governments in the region, historically as part of superpower rivalry and concern for oil security.30

Since the strength of this coercive apparatus has been further reinforced by the region’s exceptionally high levels of military expenditures, a link exists between defence allocations and governance. Added to these is the role of external powers that have consistently supported authoritarian governments in the region, historically as part of superpower rivalry and concern for oil security.31

Ultimately, links between governance and defence expenditures are an empirical matter. In the sections that follow, we attempt to establish some key linkages between these variables. Because defence expenditures and governance dimensions interact in complex ways with the economy, the economic dimension provides a good framework for this examination. In particular, are there certain environments where defence expenditures interact either positively or negatively with the economy? Are these environments associated with certain patterns of governance? If so, where do the various Middle Eastern countries stand in this regard?

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.