The military-industrial complex is a nation’s military establishment, as well as the industries involved in the production of armaments and other military materials. In his 1961 farewell address, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower famously warned the public of the nation’s increasingly powerful military-industrial complex and the threat it posed to American democracy. Today, the United States routinely outspends every other country for military and defense expenditures. Watch the video below and read the last section of Ch 24 "The End of the 1950s".
Questions:
- Given that there has not been a declared war since 1945, what accounts for this rise in spending throughout the Cold War and into later decades?
- How did competition with other powers like the Soviet Union drive the increase in arms spending? In historical hindsight, was this justified?
- Congress continues to dump vast amounts of money into the defense budget, even after an incremental withdrawal from the longest military conflict in US history, Afghanistan. What continues to drive massive military spending in the US and how is the spending seen by the general public? Positively or negatively? Cite examples.
Sample Solution