War Profiteers

When the Cold War finally ended in 1991, the dominant influence of the military-industrial complex ensured that the “peace dividend” the whole world so desperately hoped for was quickly trumped by the “power dividend.”

In 2012, General Dynamics’ annual report reassured its investors that “while the level of U.S. defense spending will be impacted by…fiscal realities, there is not a foreseeable peace dividend.”

Obama’s Department of Defense funding averaged $653.6 billion per year (in 2016 dollars), 3% more than under Bush Jr’s, and 56% more than under Clinton. But, like Clinton in the 1990s, Obama offset small reductions in Pentagon weapons purchases with expanding foreign arms sales.

 Between 1999 and 2011, the U.S. spent $1.3 trillion on its wars.

 Above and beyond that is the $1.8 trillion spent to buy new warplanes, warships, weapons and equipment, most of which were unrelated to wars the U.S. was actually fighting.

In 2017, the Wall Street Journal predicted that “the global aerospace and defense (A&D) sector is likely to experience stronger growth in 2017 after multiple positive but subdued years,” thanks to a “resurgence of global security threats, anticipated increases in U.S. defense budgets,” and increased global arms sales. The Journal was right: the stocks of major arms producers hit record highs in 2017.  

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