A research on the changing nature of defense expenditures in the post-Cold War period

The aim of this research is to evaluate the changing nature of defense expenditures in the post-cold war period. The Cold War period includes the period starting from the end of the second world war until the dissolution of the USSR and the political and military tensions between the USSR and the American blocs. In this period, although there were no hot-contact wars, it was determined that defense expenditures increased. NATO, which was established to prevent the expansionist policies of the USSR, and the Warsaw Pact, which was made in response to NATO, were effective in the increase in defense expenditures. In the cold war period, the polarized states as America and the USSR in the context of NATO and the Warsaw Pact caused tensions and threats to increase, resulting in an increase in defense expenditures. It has been determined that after the Cold War period, defense expenditures began to decline. However, in the mid-2000s, it was observed that defense expenditures started to rise again. However, the changes in defense strategies and means of defense after the cold war stand out among the results of the research. Keywords: Cold War, Defense Expenditures, Defense Strategies, Economics of Defense Expenditures.