Military-Industrial Complex Revisited: Introduction

Introduction
Back to the Future?

The conjunction of an immense military establishment and a huge arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence—economic, political, and even spiritual—is felt in every city, every state house, and every office of the federal government ... In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Farewell Address to the Nation
January 17, 1961

Figure 1

Weapons Procurement, 1998 - 2003
(billions $U.S.)

Sources: Department of Defense, FY 1999 Budget Request, and William Hartung.

Contrary to initial expectations, the military-industrial complex did not fade away with the end of the cold war. It has simply reorganized itself.

As a result of a rash of military-industry mergers encouraged and subsidized by the Clinton administration, the "Big Three" weapons makers—Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Raytheon—now receive among themselves over $30 billion per year in Pentagon contracts. This represents more than one out of every four dollars that the Defense Department doles out for everything from rifles to rockets.¹

If they get their way, the new military-industrial behemoths will receive billions more in the years to come. The Clinton administration’s five-year budget plan for the Pentagon calls for a 50% increase in weapons procurement, from $44 billion per year now to over $63 billion per year by 2003 (see Figure 1). On issue after issue—from expanding NATO, to deploying the Star Wars missile defense system, to rolling back restrictions on arms sales to repressive regimes — the arms industry has launched a concerted lobbying campaign aimed at increasing military spending and arms exports. These initiatives are driven by profit and pork barrel politics, not by an objective assessment of how best to defend the United States in the post-cold war period.

In order to achieve an effective, affordable defense, it will be necessary to rein in the power and profits of the Pentagon and the military contractors. But before looking at the recent activities of the arms lobby, it is important to reflect on just how misguided the Pentagon’s current spending priorities really are.

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Introduction Back to the Future?

Introduction
Back to the Future?