CAPITULO III: DESARROLLO DEL MODELO DE GESTION
3.3. Comunicación de la visita previa
For those who seek the prestige of being first class powers, the current nuclear systems are necessary. The systems involve a swiftly evolving technology that compels ceaseless competition for superiority, but they are costly and dangerous. The use of large and highly mobile conventional forces is still the most useful tools of states.
SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2
Gross National Product is important in identifying great nations.
Discuss.
POL344 FOREIGN POLICY ANALYSIS
Subcontractors and parts suppliers for big U.S. weapons projects are usually spread around many states and congressional districts, so that local citizens and politicians join the list of constituents benefiting from military spending. Early funding for the Strategic Defence Initiative (or Star Wars) was given to each military service branch, the Department of Energy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and hundreds of private contractors. Recently, a similar phenomenon has emerged in the European Community, where weapons development programmes have been parceled out to several European States. A new fighter jet is less likely to be canceled if one country gets the contract for the wings, another for the engines, and so forth.
Executives in military industries, as the people who best understand their industries, are often appointed as government officials responsible for military procurement decision and then return to their companies again- a practice called the “revolving door”. In democracies, military industries also try to influence public opinion through advertising that ties their products to patriotic themes. Finally, U. S.
military industries give generous campaign contributions to national politicians who vote on military budget, and sometimes bribes to officials as well. Military industry became an important source of Political Action Committee (PAC) money raised by members of Congress.
When the Cold War ended, the military industrial complex in both superpowers endured cutbacks in military budgets. In Russia, military industries formed the backbone of political factions seeking to slow down economic reforms and continue government subsidies to state owned industries. They succeeded in replacing Russia’s Prime Minister with an industrial manager in late 1992. In the United States, meanwhile, the lingering influence of the military-industrial complex may help explain why Congress kept funding certain Cold War weapons (such as the Sea Wolf and B-2bomber) after their purpose seemingly disappeared. (Glodstein and Pevehouse, 2009) SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 3
Explain“might”as a function of economic capability.
4.0 CONCLUSION
One of the major problems facing states in international politics is how to balance their power resources and commitment while leaving a comfortable surplus of power in reserve. Walter LipMann, an American journalist who wrote of this problem in 1943 argued that, when such a balance exists, there will be wide spread domestic support for a state’s foreign policy. Should commitments exceed power; the result will be a
POL344 FOREIGN POLICY ANALYSIS
foreign policy that is characterised by “insolvency”, “bankruptcy” and deep domestic dissension.
Avoiding this so-called Lippman Gap is a perpetual problem that policymakers encounter as they put together a foreign policy and define the states national interest. It is not unique to the United States or to the twentieth century. In the Rise and fall of the Great powers, Paul Kennedy argues that the fundamental problem facing every great power is balancing its short-term security needs with its long term needs to preserve a healthy and productive economy that is based on modern technology. It is rapid and sustained economic growth that generates the resources that allow states to pay for the instruments of military power.
Kennedy’s survey concluded that of all the surveys none have succeeded in maintaining such a balance. Inevitably, imperial overreach sets in, with military commitments and spending exceeding the economy’s ability to pay for them. The result is economic slow down, which when compiled with rapid economic growth in other states, leads to the loss of the great power status.
5.0 SUMMARY
The realist proposition that states internal capabilities shape their foreign policy priorities is supported by the fact that states’preparations for war strongly influence their later use of force. Whereas all states may seek similar goals, their ability to realise them will vary according to their military capabilities.
Military capabilities limit a state’s range of prudent policy choices. They act as mediating factors on leaders national security decisions. However, military capability to a large extent depends on the level of economic and industrial development a state enjoys. Rich states have interest that extend far beyond their borders and typically possess the means to pursue and protect them. The United States today stand out as a superpower precisely because it benefits from a combination of vast economic and military capabilities.
6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
1. How does economic development influence a state’s foreign policy goals?
2. The nuclear stalemate makes the conventional forces as relevant as ever in principle. Discuss
3. Military Capability and a strong foreign policy are functions of economic development. Discuss.
POL344 FOREIGN POLICY ANALYSIS
7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Glenn, H. &Kay, K. (1999). Dimensions of World Politics. New York:
Harper Collins Publishers.
Goldstein, J. & Jon C. P. (2009). International Relations, (8th Ed.).
New York: Pearson Longman.
Kegley, C. Jr. (2007). World Politics: Trend and Transformation, (11th Ed.). Belmont: Thompson Wadsworth.
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