POLI 360 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Mikhail Gorbachev, Security Dilemma, Arms Race

• School: McGill University
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POLI 360
• Professor: T.V.Paul

Document Summary

Strengthen and control deterrence: uncontrolled arms race can lead to wars (wwi big arms buildup by great powers can lead to one side starting war, hoping to gain an advantage. Arms race -> security dilemma: windows of opportunity: if weapons are available, states will use them. Economic costs of arms race: if these resources were channeled to economic uses it would lead to more development; there are a great amount of resources spent on arms development. 90% of american scientists were working in the arms industry during the cold. In the soviet union, many more resources were dedicated to this; there were not enough civilian goods, and this effected their ability to perform in the long run. Disarmament vs. development: development is constrained due to spending on arms, because of spending on defense; opportunity cost that comes with military spending, the world spending ~trillion after cold war on arms. During 1980s, studies (one done by brant .