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Jetzt kostenlos anmeldenAccording to the Military Intervention Project,
the US has undertaken almost 400 military interventions since 1776, with half of these operations undertaken between 1950 and 2019. Over 25% of them have occurred in the post-Cold War period."1
The study argues that many American interventions took place during the Cold War. Furthermore, U.S. foreign policy became more aggressive after the Cold War, even though American opponents, real or perceived, tended to deescalate theirs.
Some historians have also noted the link between U.S. foreign policy and the military-industrial complex. Its rise is traced to the early Cold War period and remains relevant to this day.
A military-industrial complex is an interest group of arms manufacturers (defense contractors), government bodies, lobbyists, intelligence agencies, and other groups and individuals seeking to increase a country's military budget (defense spending) or make it central to policy-making.
During the Second World War (1939-1945), the Soviet Union, Britain, and the United States were the main Allies responsible for the victory over Nazi Germany in May 1945. They shared different ideologies and had some disagreements over strategy. However, the alliance was highly successful.
Elbe Day, April 1945, when the Soviet troops met the American counterparts near Torgau, Germany. Source: Wikipedia Commons (public domain).
In the U.S., the government led by President Franklin D. Roosevelt helped convert civilian manufacturing to wartime industries. Roosevelt used the War Production Board agency to do so. The World War II era was a precursor to the development of the military-industrial complex.
However, ideological and geopolitical cracks among the Allies began to show when they decided upon the postwar order. The Americans perceived the Soviet Union, which subscribed to socialism (Communism), as an ideological rival.
As a result, the U.S. decided to challenge this ideology—and the Soviet Union—all around the world. Thus was born the Truman Doctrine (1947) and the foreign policy of containment. The United States and the Soviet Union emerged as superpowers after the Second World War, which is why they both had global reach.
This competition led to an extended conflict, the Cold War (1945-1991). The U.S. and the Soviet Union did not engage in a direct military confrontation, but many indirect clashes ensued, including:
| Date | Conflict | Participants |
| 1950-1953 | Korean War |
|
| 1948-present | Arab-Israeli Conflict |
|
| 1955-1975 | Vietnam War |
|
The best-known early critic of the military-industrial complex was President Dwight Eisenhower, who was in office between 1953 and 1961. During the Second World War, Eisenhower was General of the Army and the first Supreme Allied Commander in Europe.
A celebration of Germany’s unconditional surrender in WWII, Reims, France, May 7, 1945, featuring the senior military leadership of the Allies (Soviet Union, Britain, U.S.): Eisenhower is second from the right. Source: U.S. Army, Wikipedia Commons (public domain).
During his time in office, Eisenhower presided over the Korean War and the beginning of the Vietnam War. However, he also shared a realist approach to international relations.
On January 17, 1961, President Eisenhower gave his farewell address. His experience as a soldier made him understand the horrors of war like other American politicians did not. As a result, he warned against the growth of the military-industrial complex:
“This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. . . .Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. . . . In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."1
Historically, the military-industrial complex displayed many essential elements.
Many inventions came from the Cold War not only in military technology but also in fields like science and healthcare, including:
The U.S. also created intelligence agencies during the Cold War, such as the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency in 1947. This occurred at the same time as the U.S. defense spending and the military-industrial complex, in general, were growing.
American historians Steven Ambrose and Douglas Brinkley described the CIA's activities as follows:
The space race was the rivalry between the Soviet Union and the United States in space exploration. Science and technology are the focus of space exploration. Science and technology correlate to the arms race, including developing missiles and bombers. The Soviet Union beat the United States in many ways, including:
Yuri Gagarin and Valentina Tereshkova, the first man and woman in space, Soviet Union, 1964. Source: RIA, Wikipedia Commons, RIA Novosti archive, image #628703 / Khalip / CC-BY-SA 3.0.
However, the United States landed the first-ever human mission on the Moon with its Apollo 11 project and astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
One of the most critical aspects of the Cold War was the growth of weapons arsenals, which included nuclear weapons. The U.S. was the first to develop the atomic bomb. It was the only country to use it against Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.
Admiral William H.P. Blandy and his wife cut an Operation Crossroads mushroom cloud cake, Washington, D.C., 7 November 1946. Source: Library of Congress, Wikipedia Commons (public domain).
In the 21st century, these countries possess nuclear weapons:
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was established in 1949 by the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Iceland, Denmark, Portugal, Norway, and Luxembourg. Its leaders claimed to be a defensive military alliance tasked with providing collective security for Europe and countering the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union established its association, the Warsaw Pact (1955-1991), in response to NATO.
The United States has always been the most significant financial contributor to NATO. NATO supporters state that the organization provides collective security in Europe today. Its critics argue that NATO lost its purpose when the ideological rival of the U.S., the Soviet Union, was no more after 1991. Scholars and statesmen like George Kennan, Henry Kissinger, and John Mearsheimer have argued that NATO has been a destabilizing factor in international relations.
British political scientist Richard Sakwa has even questioned the existence of NATO after 1991 by highlighting the following paradox:
NATO exists to manage the risks created by its existence."3
According to some estimates, the United States maintains approximately 800 military bases, installations, and other types of troop presence worldwide. All other countries combined keep only a few dozen counterparts.
During the Cold War, the United States established many military bases. However, after 1991, Russia, the legal successor of the Soviet Union, pulled back its troops in east-central Europe. In contrast, the U.S. did not, even though its declared rival, the Soviet Union, dissolved in 1991.
At present, foreign U.S. military presence includes:
The American position is that its vast and expensive troop presence around the world is to support its allies. Critics have pointed out that these bases serve as the muscle behind American hegemony worldwide.
Hegemony is a way for one powerful state to dominate others by using direct military and political methods and indirect economic and cultural methods.
The United States has the largest defense budget in the world. It exceeds the combined budgets of about a dozen countries next in line, including China and Russia.
In the U.S., the largest defense contractors are weapons manufacturers Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. In Britain, it is BAE Systems.
In the context of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union grew their weapons arsenals, which included the types of weapons that could carry nuclear warheads. In light of some close calls, such as the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962), the two sides periodically met to discuss a nuclear-arms reduction. The meetings focused on:
These meetings terminated agreements, or the agreements expired. Until 2026, the New START treaty between the U.S. and Russia is in effect.
Jimmy Carter (U.S.) and Leonid Brezhnev (Soviet Union) signed SALT II treaty in Vienna, Austria, on June 18, 1979. Source: Wikipedia Commons (public domain).
| Date | Event | Details |
| 1969-1979 | SALT | The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT), which comprised SALT I and SALT II, featured meetings between the Soviet Union and the United States in the 1970s. SALT sought to limit the number of long-range ballistic missiles that each country possessed and codify the agreements through Treaties such as the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty (1972). The parties involved in the process were:
|
| The 1980s-1993 | START | The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), START I, and START II involved limiting the number of deployed delivery vehicles and nuclear warheads. The Treaties were signed in 1991 and 1993, respectively. The parties involved in the process were:
|
| 1987 | INF | Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty was signed in 1987 and focused on non-strategic nuclear arms control. The agreement eliminated short and intermediate ground missiles.The parties involved in the process were:
|
There are many theories about the growth of the American military-industrial complex:
The military-industrial complex is an essential part of the American domestic economy and American enforcement of its foreign policy around the world. However, international organizations like the United Nations should play a more significant role in ensuring collective security for all rather than promoting the interests of a single country.
The military-industrial complex comprises weapons manufacturers (defense contractors), institutions, government bodies, lobbyists, and other individuals who operate as part of a network promoting the weapons manufacturing sector in a country. This network seeks to increase support for government spending for the military and public support thereof.
In the 21st century, the main companies of the military-industrial complex are Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Raytheon in the United States, and BAE Systems (UK) in Europe.
Eisenhower considered the military-industrial complex an interest group comprised of weapons manufacturers and individuals in government and other institutions seeking to increase military spending and change public policy in favor of increased spending.
President Eisenhower was not only the 34th President of the United States but he also was the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe during the Second World War. His close experience with the horrors of war made Eisenhower skeptical about the growth of the defense sector and increased military spending in the U.S. during the Cold War.
During his Farewell Address in 1961, Eisenhower stated, “This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. . . .Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. . . . In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist (National Archives, “President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Farewell Address (1961),” Milestone Documents, https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/president-dwight-d-eisenhowers-farewell-address accessed 8 August 2022).
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SIGNUP SIGNUPFlashcards in Military-Industrial Complex10
Start learningWhat is the military-industrial complex?
The military-industrial complex comprises weapons manufacturers, lobbyists, institutions, and individuals as an interest group seeking to increase the military spending of a country.
Which American president expressed public concern about the growth of the military-industrial complex?
Dwight Eisenhower
When did the military-industrial complex develop in the United States?
Cold War
Which was the only country to use nuclear weapons in a war?
United States
Which was NOT part of the nuclear-arms reduction meetings?
PEPPER
When was NATO founded?
1949
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