8. Military research and development

Summary

Events in 1998 pointed up more starkly than before the central issues of military technology in the post-cold war era. For the industrialized states on close terms with the USA, the issue is whether to compete with or complement US technological advantages. Further, these states must decide how much they are willing to invest to participate in using military force for missions other than homeland defence. For US partners in Europe, the issue is whether military intervention should be the basis of military planning, as France and the UK have apparently accepted. If not, the question arises whether states like Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden should invest in projects that are mainly suited to military intervention rather than redirecting or reducing their military technology bases. 

For some other states, the problem is whether military action from the advanced industrialized states can be deterred. Ballistic missiles are popular with states that fear they may be on the receiving end of US military power precisely because they still cannot be defended against reliably. It remains to be seen whether the funds devoted to these projects, which can destroy political confidence as well as deter conflict, will produce systems that contribute meaningfully to their security or simply signal desperation in the face of US technological accomplishment.