UC Irvine

This article examines most significant causes of the development of a weapons industry in Argentina and Brazil. International market and political conditions, domestic economic and political determinants, and regional contextual factors explain the evolution and makeup of the military industrial complex in these countries. The article examines all three sources and provides a summary profile of the arms sector in each country. Developments in the 1980 and early 1990s - domestic, regional, and international - have resultsted in the near-collapse of arms production in Argentina and Brazil. In the last section, the implications of this dramatic contraction are explored.