The US military build-up 1980-1985: What the one trillion dollars purchased

Jeffrey Salmon

Defence and Peace Economics, 1997, vol. 8, issue 1, 57-76

Abstract: The build-up of US military forces in the early 1980s was controversial. Critics charged that the expenditures were made without the benefit of a strategy for how best to use the increased resources and that defense procurements were wasteful. For a time, Secretary Weinberger's administration of the defense department was seriously questioned as lacking any strategic vision. This paper argues that these criticisms have merit, but fail to take into account the political context - both domestic and international - in which the Reagan Administration was operating. The defense build-up fit into a larger national strategy and as such cannot be understood in isolation. This national strategy is discussed and the role played by the Reagan military build-up in the conclusion of the Cold War considered.

Keywords: Defense spending; Reagan foreign policy; military build-up; euromissile; zero option; strategic defense initiative; defense budgets (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1997
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DOI: 10.1080/10430719708404869

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