The globalization of production and international security

The accelerated pace of economic globalization has renewed interest among international relations scholars concerning how the international economy affects states' security behavior. The bulk of recent empirical investigations examine the influence of international trade flows on conflict processes. One crucial element of globalization that has been largely neglected in the security and peace literature is the change in the structure of global production, that is, recent shifts in the production strategies of multinational corporations.; This project centers upon examining whether it is possible to gain greater leverage over three important empirical puzzles by focusing on the globalization of production. These three puzzles concern the following: the conditions under which military conquest can produce significant economic rewards; the conditions under which states with autarkic international economic policies are at a significant disadvantage in military technology compared to states with open international economic policies; and the conditions under which regional economic integration has a positive, independent effect on states' security relations.; Three key findings emerge from the analysis. First, the recent change in the structure of global production has fundamentally shifted the scales in military technology against states with autarkic international economic policies. Second, the globalization of production has greatly reduced the economic benefits of military conquest among the most economically advanced countries. Third, increased competition for foreign direct investment (FDI) in today's global economy can, under certain conditions, serve to promote stability by leading long-standing security rivals to consolidate regional economic integration in order to attract increased FDI.