Militarization as maldevelopment

This article deals with the relationship between development and militarization, challenging the idea that military spending is beneficial to economic growth. Militarization is distinguished from militarism -a system of rule- and is understood to take place on different levels, to have various aspects, and to involve dynamic processes. It is in this broad context that the relationship between militarization and development is considered. The article indicates how the development processes in the industrially developed countries, the socialist countries and the Third World countries have all, to some extent, been influenced by militarization. This indicates militarization is not tied to a particular mode of production. What is of importance for understanding the role of the military in development processes is the military's role in state security. This is distinguished from people's security as, in certain cases, the enhancement of state security does not lead to the enhancement of the people's security. People's security is considered to include the idea of basic human needs. The relationship between development and militarization in Third World countries is given special attention as, at the present moment, it is the people of the Third World who suffer most as a result of militarization processes. The use of resources for the military in the Third World is, in general, not beneficial to economic growth, and hinders development providing security for the people. The same is generally true for the industrially developed economies