ABSTRACT
This chapter examines in some detail the manner in which defense expenditures and socio-economic development have evolved in the Middle East and South Asia over the period since the 1973-1974 oil price increases. In the period following the 1973/1974 oil price increases, the region as a whole, and the Middle East in particular, experienced an unprecedented growth in economic output, exports, military spending, armed forces and arms transfers. The evolution of military and socio-economic expenditures since the 1973/1974 oil price increases has produced some interesting patterns. Military expenditure per soldier was highly correlated with other forms of public sector expenditures for the countries experiencing a high level of socio-economic performance. In 1982, the military expenditures per soldier term continued its trend toward closer association with other types of public expenditures. At the end of the period under consideration, Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Pakistan all continued to have above average levels of militarization.
