ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the modern evolution of the study of defence policy from a comparative perspective. It describes the difference between two key terms—defense versus defence—and how these terms are used differently by the US and the broader international community. As an emerging and rapidly developing field of study, comparative defence policy is both an interdisciplinary field and an interdisciplinary methodological approach to the study of various disciplines such as international relations and economics, comparative political and economic systems, security and conflict studies, and others. Understanding the changes and their implications is paramount for the sophistication and success of future defence policymaking. Key to a second-image reversed approach to the comparative analysis of defence politics and policymaking is an examination of the international political environment, and the changes within that environment that of course is the stage upon which the defence politics of and policymaking of any given state play out.
