By Brian Bogart, Statistical Information Analysis Division

The strange notion that countries intentionally and routinely exaggerate tensions through rhetoric to profit economically from perpetual conflict preparation and a more-than-occasional confrontation is born out by the statistics contained in this paper. Overall, the statistics show the global impact of the Department of Defense as the United States’ top industry and weaponry its top export.

The Pentagon has contracts with purported adversaries China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria, and an additional 160 foreign countries. The statistics also reveal a US “footprint” pattern from major conflicts, with the largest dollar amounts and number of contracts going to companies and universities in Germany, Japan, Italy, South Korea, and Taiwan; to traditional allies, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia; and to countries surrounding and including Vietnam.

The top six countries ranked in order of the number of companies with Pentagon contracts are: Germany with 2,724 companies; Japan with 1,630 companies; Italy with 1,017 companies; United Kingdom with 767 companies; Canada with 524 companies; and South Korea with 518 companies. All six nations have been or are occupied by US forces or allied with US occupation forces.

Download: Pentagon FY2005 Foreign Country Contracts (“ST26”) (87.47KB) Copyright 2010 - Institute for Policy Research & Development