The effect of defence industry on foreign policy and case study: Turkey

Weapons are the fastest growing economic assets. However, political rather than economical reasons play a bigger role in the distribution of weapons. During the cold war, there were clear markets shares in the defense market because few manufacturers were selling weapons to the entire world. Developed countries with such manufacturing bases used their weapons technologies for their political gains as well. With the end of the cold war, the defense market shrank noticably. In order to maintain their existing know-how and capacities, the developed countries began to support and subsidize their defense firms. As a result of the pressure from the defense firms, the developed countries had to soften their protectionist policies regarding weapons sale and technology transfers. Another key factor for the change was the fact that the defense firms in developed countries make a significant contribution to the economy and employ a significant number of people. With the shrinking defense market, the buyers of weapon systems had to establish their own national defense industries. For example, Turkey experienced weapons ambargo from USA in 1975 and from USA/Europe in 1990s. The USA ambargo in 1975 was effective because Turkey did not have the foundation for an independent defense industry. In the 1990s, Turkey was able to broaden its relationships outside of USA to include Israel and other countries. In order to keep a significant portion of the $150 billion defense budget for the next 20-25 years within the country, Turkey is establishing a comprehensive domestic defense industry. For this reason, all defense projects and contracts aim to achieve significant technology transfer and domestic manufacturing.