ABSTRACT
Arms and military forces were pure burden and drain on the civilian economy and society for untold centuries. The feverish arms race during the twenty years before August 1914 engaged only four countries: Britain, France, Germany, and Russia. Neither Italy nor Austria took part in it; nor, of course, did the US. Arms, once the servant of policy, have become the master. And yet arms have become counterproductive. They have become a major drain on economic performance and economic development - a major cause of Russia's economic crisis, of America's falling behind economically, and of the failure of development, especially in Latin America. The growth of defence has become an even greater economic threat to the developing countries, and especially to Latin America. The burden of the military is the single biggest factor in these countries' economic stagnation, inflation, and non-development.
