Weapons Proliferation And Technology Diffusion

Proliferation of weapons has become a leading concern for US national security and for military policy and strategy. Beginning in the late 1970s, trends seemed to indicate that increased defense spending, a growing number of weapons producers, and greater access to technology would act as the catalyst to encourage the rapid emergence of high-tech military forces in developing nations. Yet the developing world faces many obstacles to the formation of modern armed forces, including financial burdens, a shortage of indigenous technical ability, insufficient industrial development, and social biases. This study examines the spread of advanced military technologies in several countries of South Asia and in the Middle East in an effort to discern the dynamic relationship between the catalysts and constraints to technology proliferation. The essays address the potential of each nation to develop, utilize and transfer military technology.