Military-Industrial Complex

Extracted Attributes

• Originator

  Dwight D. Eisenhower

• Origin Date

  1961-01-17

• Core Components

  Military services, private defense contractors, and members of Congress

• Expanded Definition

  Military-industrial-academic-media complex

• US Annual Military Budget

  Approximately $1 trillion USD

• US Global Arms Market Share

  40% of all weapons sold worldwide

Timeline

• President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivers his farewell address, warning the nation to guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence by the military-industrial complex. (Source: National Archives)

  1961-01-17

• The University of Oregon conducts formal testing on the theory of the Military-industrial complex. (Source: Britannica)

  1973-01-01

• The Russian invasion of Ukraine begins, leading to increased international application of the MIC term to the Russian defense sector. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2022-02-24

• On the All-In Podcast, Chamath Palihapitiya criticizes the U.S. MIC for technological failures regarding drone technology following a deadly attack on U.S. troops. (Source: All-In Podcast Episode 164)

  2024-02-02

• Publication of research by Miao Wang regarding the MIC's dual impact and its role in cognitive warfare and information manipulation. (Source: Macao Scientific Publishers)

  2024-09-30

Military–industrial complex

The expression military–industrial complex (MIC) describes the relationship between a country's military and the defense industry that supplies it, seen together as a vested interest which influences public policy. A driving factor behind the relationship between the military and the defense corporations is that both sides benefit—one side from obtaining weapons, and the other from being paid to supply them. The term is most often used in reference to the system behind the armed forces of the United States, where the relationship is most prevalent due to close links among defense contractors, the Department of Defense, and politicians. The expression gained popularity after a warning of the relationship's harmful effects, in the farewell address of U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1961. The term has also been used in relation to Russia, especially since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Web Search Results

• Military-industrial complex | Definition, Elements, Influence, & Facts

  The term military-industrial complex can also refer to the physical location of military production. Military spending creates spatial concentrations of prime contractors, subcontractors, consultants, universities, skilled workers, and government installations, all of which are devoted to research and development on, or the manufacture of, military systems and technologies. Examples include the aerospace complex in southern California, the shipbuilding complex on the southern coast of South [...] The term military-industrial complex was first used by U.S. Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower in his Farewell Address on January 17, 1961. Eisenhower warned that the United States must “guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence…by the military-industrial complex,” which included members of Congress from districts dependent on military industries, the Department of Defense (along with the military services), and privately owned military contractors—e.g., Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and [...] University of Oregon - 1973:Testing the theory of the Military-industrial complex Air and Space Forces Magazine - The �Military-Industrial Complex� Myth Library of Congress - Origins of the Military-Industrial Complex CORE - The Military-Industrial Complex and US Military Spending After 9/11 (PDF) Johns Hopkins University Press - Delta of Power: The Military-Industrial Complex Ohio State University - Origins - The Anatomy of the Military-Industrial Complex

• [PDF] The Dual Impact of the U.S. Military- Industrial Complex - MOSP

  J. Int. Eco. Glo. Gov. Macao Scientifi Publishers（MOSP） 1 ·Article· Power Under the Shadow: The Dual Impact of the U.S. Military-Industrial Complex Miao Wang1, 1 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China Corresponding Author: Miao Wang. Email: mwang10@hit.edu.cn Received: 15 August 2024 Accepted: 17 August 2024 Published: 30 September 2024 Abstract: Since the end of the Cold War, the U.S. military-industrial complex has undergone significant [...] particularly through the expanded concept of the 'military-industrial-academic-media complex.' This expanded concept not only includes traditional military and industrial sectors but also integrates academia and media participation. This complex plays an increasingly vital role in contemporary U.S. cognitive warfare and information manipulation. Through these analyses, this paper aims to reveal the complex mechanisms through which the military-industrial complex influences U.S. defense [...] Military-Industrial Complex on U.S. Foreign Affairs The military-industrial complex not only influences the United States' defense capabilities but also profoundly affects its foreign policy direction. The symbiotic alliance formed by the military, defense industry, and political elite has become a significant force driving the militarization tendency in U.S. foreign policy. Through shaping threat perceptions and influencing decision-making processes, the military-industrial complex has

• The Military-Industrial Complex Has Never Been Worse - Jacobin

  # Shaping the Public Narrative: The Military-Entertainment Complex [...] More than sixty years after Eisenhower identified the problem and gave it a name, the military-industrial complex continues to use its unprecedented influence to corrupt budget and policy processes, starve funding for nonmilitary solutions to security problems, and ensure that war is the ever-more likely “solution” to this country’s problems. The question is: What can be done to reduce its power over our lives, our livelihoods, and ultimately, the future of the planet? [...] # Shaping the Elite Narrative: The Military-Industrial Complex and Think Tanks

• How the military-industrial complex captured US democracy

  # How the military-industrial complex captured US democracy | Business of War ## Al Jazeera English 17000000 subscribers 7988 likes ### Description 372015 views Posted: 9 Aug 2025 When it comes to selling weapons, the United States is in a league of its own: more than 40 percent of all arms sold worldwide come from US companies. Five corporations, known as the "big five", dominate that trade – and since the start of the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, their revenues have soared. [...] the US war industry, they're a drop in the ocean. More than 40% of all weapons sold worldwide come from US companies. That trade is dominated by the so-called big five US firms, which are also the five largest in the world. Since the start of the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, their revenues have soared. But selling weapons overseas is only part of their business. At home, they enjoy an almost guaranteed windfall every year. from a US military budget worth roughly a trillion dollars, more than [...] from the arms industry of the members who vote no. In every year, the members who vote yes on the military budget take four, five, six times more money from arms manufacturers prior to their vote than those who vote no. It's a stunning correlation that you just see every single time. >> Another potential obstacle for the war industry comes in the form of congressional committees which scrutinize legislation worth billions of dollars to US weapons companies. It's on these committees that you'll

• President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Farewell Address (1961)

  Citation: Farewell address by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, January 17, 1961; Final TV Talk 1/17/61 (1), Box 38, Speech Series, Papers of Dwight D. Eisenhower as President, 1953-61, Eisenhower Library; National Archives and Records Administration View All Pages in the National Archives Catalog View Transcript On January 17, 1961, in this farewell address, President Dwight Eisenhower warned against the establishment of a "military-industrial complex." [...] In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. [...] This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence-economic, political, even spiritual-is felt in every city, every state house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.