The end of the Cold War triggered massive Western military disarmament

Evidence

Second, the precipitous reduction in Russian military capabilities stimulated a slower but significant decline in Western military spending, forces, and capabilities. Under the plans of the Bush and Clinton administrations, U.S. military spending was due to drop by 35 percent from 342.3 billion (1994 dollars) in 1990 to 222.3 in 1998. The force structure that year would be half to two-thirds what it was at the end of the Cold War. Total military personnel would go down from 2.1 million to 1.4 million. Many major weapons programs have been and are being canceled. Between 1985 and 1995 annual purchases of major weapons went down from 29 to 6 ships, 943 to 127 aircraft, 720 to 0 tanks, and 48 to 18 strategic missiles. — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 244

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: West German plans to arm forces with atomic weapons triggered mass protests — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2345