Suchergebnisse

There is growing concern that Southeast Asia is in the midst of a regional arms race. Certainly many nations in the region have been on a veritable "shopping spree" for advanced conventional weaponry, and this has been enabled by a corresponding increase in military spending. However, these acquisitions do not fit the pattern of an "arms race" as laid out in prevailing theory: mutually adversarial relationships, explicit tit-for-tat arms acquisitions, the intention of seeking dominance over ones rivals through arming and intimidation, etc. Additionally, the actual numbers of arms being acquired are, for the most part, relatively small. That said, the regional re-arming process is significant in that the types of arms being acquired go beyond the "mere modernization" of regional armed forces and could greatly change the nature and character of potential regional conflicts. The resulting arms competition, or "arms dynamic", has at least the potential to contribute to a classical "security dilemma", a situation whereby actions taken by a country can actually undermine the security and stability that they were meant to increase. Adapted from the source document.

During the 2000s, navies in the Asia-Pacific region have experienced a significant, if not unprecedented, bout of naval expansion. This buildup has been quantitative, but more importantly, qualitative as well, and in many cases goes beyond mere modernization. It has been driven by both rising regional defense spending and by an increasingly competitive arms business, which is resulting in the export of some of the most advanced types of weaponry. Regional military modernization activities are intended to increase national deterrent and defensive capabilities, but the process of mutual, reciprocated arming with increasingly advanced conventional weapons can also lead to costly arms competitions, perhaps draining resources from other, more pressing social needs. It also contains the kernel of a classic security dilemma, whereby such arming can actually undermine that very security it was intended to improve.