ABSTRACT

Introduction In 1998, 2.6 percent of world gross national product (GNP) or about three-quarters of a trillion dollars was devoted to military expenditures, thus continuing the downward trend started at the conclusion of the Cold War.1 Much of this decrease from 1997 can be attributed to reductions in military spending in the Russian Federation and the United States; however, events in Kosovo and Chechnya will surely reverse these two countries’ downward defense spending trends. According to SIPRI (1999: 9), arms production has begun to rise in 1998. Arms transfers of $21.9 billion in 1998 are at about the same low level as the $20 billion in 1994. What ismost worrying is the large number ofmajor armed conflicts – twenty-seven in twenty-six locations. The world remains volatile and dangerous with the Cold War confrontation of the two superpowers giving way to smaller wars driven by territorial disputes, government power struggles, and ethnic hatreds. When these conflicts involve nuclear powers, such as India and Pakistan, even local wars can have wide-ranging and catastrophic consequences.