Publisher's Synopsis
This book looks at the problems and opportunities of a switch over of skills, equipment and other resources from military purposes to civilian uses, with particular reference to recent events in Eastern Europe. In Part I the author surveys the extent of the military economy and suggests that its different components imply distinct adjustment needs. This is followed by a look at the principal approaches to the economic adjustment problem ? i.e. diversification, spinoff and conversion. In Part II the adjustment experiences of the world?s three leading military producers ? China, the Soviet Union and the United States are examined, while in Parts III and IV, the centrepiece of the study, the European military economies are analysed. In country by country sections Part IV profiles the adjustment discussion and experience in fourteen East and West European countries. Part V contains a discussion of the broader policy framework required to make economic adjustment a successful undertaking. The Annex is divided into three sections: the first part lists selected conversion initiatives in a number of European countries; the second provides an international address list of individuals and organisations involved in economic adjustment issues; while the third is a selected bibliography covering publications from each of the countries covered.
