Beyond Conquest: Four Pathways from Military Power to Profits

• In Event: Arms and Profit

Abstract

What role does the search for profits play in international security in the 21st century? The conventional wisdom is that conquest no longer pays and thus military power is largely obsolete as a means for seeking wealth. Profit-seeking is no longer viewed as one of the key drivers of inter-state conflict. This is wrong. Conquest has declined in profitability, but there remain many pathways beyond conquest through which states can use military power for economic gain. We develop a comprehensive typology of the eight pathways by which states can profit from military power. For each pathway, we provide examples that show that states have profited via these pathways not only in the past, but also in the contemporary era. This demonstrates that there remain many viable means beyond conquest by which states use their military power to increase their wealth. Our core finding is that military power is far from obsolete for acquiring wealth. This has implications for understanding the motivations, strategies and actions of great powers and the drivers of international conflict. By providing a systematic and comprehensive typology of the pathways through which states profit from military power, we lay the groundwork for research that predicts when different types of states will use military power for profit and identifies the conditions under which it is in the interests of powerful states like the U.S. to deter those actions.

Authors

• Jonathan Markowitz, University of Southern California

• Benjamin A.T. Graham, University of Southern California