A Symbiotic Relationship

Military might and economic growth share a symbiotic relationship and one without the other is always short lived. They both feed on each other as well as nurture the other for the benefit and overall ascent of a nation.

Whenever a nation tries to promote one at the expense of the other, and one has to just look around in the international arena to find many examples of these, it always finds itself in deep trouble soon. One of the finest examples are the so called military states (technically the ones ruled by a junta or a serviceman as its head e.g. Myanmar) or countries where the armed forces hold an extraordinary amount of power compared to other arms of the government ( such as Pakistan).

In such countries there is a strong tendency to promote the forces and they are able to corner the lions share of the budgeted resources. This mostly happens at the expense of infrastructure funding and other government development and growth programs which in the long term adversely affect the economic growth and prospects of the country.

Also with such strong focus on just one arm its power becomes disproportionate which in turn leads to issues such as corruption and nepotism all of which severely hamper and stifles enterprise resulting in economic stagnation. Both the countries mentioned above have had a the same fate of economic catastrophe as armed forces are promoted at the expense of other pressing needs.

This policy is a negative self fulfilling prophecy, initially the services request and get large amounts due to a real or perceived threat. But as increasingly money keeps getting filtered to the military there is an impact on economy of the country. This invariably results in some kind of opposition, or in extreme cases uprising, against the government or the junta and to quell that more money gets allocated to the forces with the core economic issues getting further left behind.

On the other hand if a country focusses on economic growth alone without developing sufficient military might, there is no way in which it can protect its trade interests in case they are threatened by an outside power. It is imperative thus for an economic power to maintain adequate armed forces which can protect its economic investments and interests in a hostile situation.

The erstwhile USSR had a very strong focus on space supremacy and on its armed forces. To maintain a superiority in these two spheres other aspects of economic development were ignored with deadly results for the ruling party and the country as a whole.

China after creating a strong and vibrant economy has bolstered it with military might and is adding advanced weapons and technology to its arsenal. This ensures that the country is effectively able to safeguard its varied trade interests, whether be its merchant ships sailing in the pirate infested waters or its oil wells in distant African nations.

It is important to understand that the armed forces are per se unproductive and do not add to the growth or depth of the economy. Adequate investments are to be made both in the infrastructure and in the creation of an environment which supports strong economic growth. Such growth only can sustain and bring modern equipment and weaponry to the military which the forces need to protect the economy that helps nourish it.