The Military Industrial Complex: A Discussion of Selected Issues.

Abstract

Recent defense budgets under the Reagan Administration have again fired up the controversy concerning the ominious 'Military Industrial Complex', coined into existence by President Eisenhower over 23 years ago. This paper examines two major issues surrounding the 'complex' : (1) Is the complex the new phenomena Eisenhower spoke of or is it the evolved relationship deeply set in our American society from its beginnings as a nation? This is addressed in an historical perspective by tracing the evolution of the military-industrial relationship over our history as well as commenting on the need for this relationship. (2) Is the complex wasteful, corrupt and exerting too strong an influence on the nations resources? Each of these criticisms are presented in the form articulated by the opponents of the complex, rebuttal arguments are presented, followed by an analysis of available data. A conclusion is made as to the validity of each of the criticisms.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 03, 1984
Accession Number
ADA148873

Entities

People

  • N. W. Meoni

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Civil War
  • Defense Industry
  • Economic Systems
  • Employment
  • Governments
  • Investments
  • Military Acquisition
  • Military Budgets
  • Munitions
  • National Governments
  • National Security
  • Personnel Management
  • Political Systems
  • Procurement
  • United States
  • War Colleges

Readers

  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Strategic Security Studies