Peer-to-peer defence industrial alliances flourish in developing world

The cross-border defence industrial alliances of the 1990s (and the earliest years of the first decade of this century) remained shaped by the Cold War era. They were asymmetric in nature and typically characterised by the transfer of technology, supply of materiel and support from a larger more developed power to smaller recipient countries.

However, between 2004 and 2009 nascent peer-to-peer partnerships emerged to significant degree between countries with smaller, developing industrial capabilities.

The reasons for this are numerous. Firstly, the relative certainties of the Cold War era gradually diminished and the security landscape became increasingly fluid: regional rivalries have been a factor, as have local security threats and cultural ties (the emergence of strengthened links between predominantly Muslim countries in Asia, for example).

Secondly, reliance on a benefactor country (whether the United States, China, or indeed Russia) creates issues for recipients in terms of the strategic weakspots that may emerge through narrow reliance on a single materiel supplier, plus potentially limited access to technologies to meet local aspirations (particularly true of countries that have historically looked to the US).

Thirdly, wider economic growth in a number of emerging markets (notably in South America and Asia) has allowed defence expenditure to rise and has made local defence industrial growth feasible: military production has the potential to provide a means of employment and export growth, and as such can be an attractive proposition.

Finally, local aspirations – from the global and regional export of materiel to self-reliance – also need to be considered.