ABSTRACT
The United States discovered in the 1960s that the very awesome military power at its command inhibited it from taking appropriate measures in certain situations, thus making its power useless in short-of-war confrontations. In a military sense, the world is divided into patron states and client states. One of the characteristics client states is that they are dependent on the patron is that on the states not only for products and goods but also for and military hardware and armaments. Arms supply is an extremely lucrative trade conducted for the most part trade conducted for the most part surreptitiously and with significant political overtones. In terms of global gross product, military expenditures constitute a relatively small element but have not only constitute a relatively small element but have actually decreased from 7.06% in 1960 to 4.5% in to 4.5% in actually in 1995.
