Commentary
It is a common cliché that the Asia-Pacific is somehow in the “grip of a regional arms race.” Every few months, there appears an article in the press that Asian militaries are in a “missile race” or a “naval arms race” or some kind of “action-reaction arming.” Much of this is driven by rising regional tensions and enabled by steady increases in Asian military spending, which, in turn, have fueled a veritable shopping spree for advanced conventional weaponry.
The point of these stories is that such arms purchases are subverting regional stability. The action of acquiring such arms, which is supposed to increase a nation’s security, is actually undermining it, as countries view with alarm and suspicion the apparently aggressive arming by their neighbors and react accordingly. As a result, these acquisitions have the unintended consequence of actually increasing regional insecurities and tensions, often leading to a destabilizing spiraling effect known as the “security dilemma.”…