The Political Economy of Defense and War

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This course examines the relationships among resources, technologies, and national power as countries try to protect themselves in an uncertain global environment, specifically how countries convert latent power (wealth) into realized power (especially military forces). It covers particular topics including the importance of developing new technologies and the role of government and especially militaries in promoting innovation; the role that concentration of scarce resources (e.g., oil) and production (e.g., rare earths in China or semiconductors in Taiwan) in particular countries plays in national security; the effect of globalization of trade and investment on the likelihood, the conduct, and the results of war; and the effects of peacetime defense investment and wartime mobilization on the strength of the broader economy. By the end of the course students will have developed an understanding of how economic issues affect strategic and political thinking about international relations that they can use to assess events around the world and pundits' and politicians' comments about International security throughout their lives.