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{{Short description|Concept in military and political science}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2018}}
{{war}}

The expression '''''military–industrial complex''''' ('''''MIC''''') describes the relationship between a country's [[military]] and the [[Arms industry|defense industry]] that supplies it, seen together as a vested interest which influences [[public policy]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=military+industrial+complex&submit.x=0&submit.y=0|title=military industrial complex|year=2015|work=American Heritage Dictionary|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|access-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306085818/https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=military+industrial+complex&submit.x=0&submit.y=0|archive-date=March 6, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/military-industrial-complex?q=military-industrial+complex|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307123504/http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/military-industrial-complex?q=military-industrial+complex|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 7, 2016|title=definition of military-industrial complex (American English)|work=[[OxfordDictionaries.com]]|access-date=3 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/military%20industrial%20complex|title=Definition of Military–industrial complex|work=[[Merriam-Webster]]|access-date=3 March 2016}}</ref><ref name="Bacevich2009">{{cite book|editor-last1=Bacevich|editor-first1=Andrew J.|last=Roland|first=Alex|chapter=The Military-Industrial Complex: lobby and trope|title=The Long War: A New History of U.S. National Security Policy Since World War II|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NCWtAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA335|year=2009|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0231131599|pages=335–370}}</ref> 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 [[United States Armed Forces|armed forces of the United States]], where the relationship is most prevalent due to close links among defense contractors, the [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]], and politicians.<ref name="npr">{{cite news |title=Ike's Warning Of Military Expansion, 50 Years Later |url=https://www.npr.org/2011/01/17/132942244/ikes-warning-of-military-expansion-50-years-later |access-date=27 March 2019 |publisher=NPR |date=17 January 2011}}</ref><ref>"[[Stockholm International Peace Research Institute|SIPRI]] Year Book 2008; Armaments, Disarmaments and International Security" [[Oxford University Press]] 2008 {{ISBN|978-0199548958}}</ref> The expression gained popularity after a warning of the relationship's harmful effects, in [[Eisenhower's farewell address|the farewell address]] of U.S. President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] in 1961.<ref name="Held1999">{{cite book|last1=Held|first1=David|last2=McGrew|first2=Anthony G.|last3=Goldblatt|first3=David|editor-last=Perraton|editor-first=Jonathan|title=Global Transformations: Politics, Economics and Culture|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VBXvvo4Vo-oC&pg=PA108|year=1999|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0804736275|page=[https://archive.org/details/globaltransforma0000unse/page/108 108]|chapter=The expanding reach of organized violence|url=https://archive.org/details/globaltransforma0000unse/page/108}}</ref> The term has also been used [[#Russia|in relation to Russia]], especially since its [[Russo-Ukrainian war (2022–present)|2022 invasion of Ukraine]].

==Origin of the term==
[[File:Dwight D. Eisenhower, official photo portrait, May 29, 1959.jpg|thumb|In [[Eisenhower's farewell address|his farewell address]], [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] famously warned [[Citizenship of the United States|U.S. citizens]] about the "military–industrial complex".]]
[[File:Eisenhower farewell address.ogg|thumb|Eisenhower's farewell address, January 17, 1961. The term ''military–industrial complex'' is used at 8:16. Length: 15:30]]

U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower used the term in his [[Eisenhower's farewell address|Farewell Address]] to the Nation on January 17, 1961:

{{blockquote|A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction...
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 statehouse, 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. 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. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals so that security and liberty may prosper together.<ref>{{Cite web|date=January 17, 1961|title=President Dwight Eisenhower Farewell Address|url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?15026-1/president-dwight-eisenhower-farewell-address|website=C-Span}}</ref> [emphasis added]}}

The phrase was thought to have been "war-based" industrial complex before becoming "military", a claim passed on only by oral history.<ref name="ledbetter" /><sup>:111</sup> [[Geoffrey Perret]], in his biography of Eisenhower, claims that in one draft of the speech, the phrase was "military–industrial–congressional complex", indicating the role that the United States Congress plays in the propagation of the military industry, but the word "congressional" was dropped from the final version.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Geoffrey |first=Perret |title=Eisenhower |publisher=New York: Random House |year=1999 |isbn=0375500464}}</ref> [[James Ledbetter]] calls this a "stubborn misconception" not supported by any evidence.<ref name="Ledbetter">{{cite web |last=Ledbetter |first=James |date=25 January 2011 |title=Guest Post: 50 Years of the "Military–Industrial Complex" |url=http://schott.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/25/guest-post-james-ledbetter-on-50-years-of-the-military-industrial-complex/ |access-date=25 January 2011 |work=Schott's Vocab |publisher=[[New York Times]]}}</ref> The actual authors of the speech were Eisenhower's speechwriters [[Ralph E. Williams]] and [[Malcolm Moos]].<ref>Griffin, Charles "New Light on Eisenhower's Farewell Address", in Presidential Studies Quarterly 22 (Summer 1992): 469–479</ref>

While the term ''military-industrial complex'' is often ascribed to Eisenhower, he was neither the first to use the phrase, nor the first to warn of such a potential danger.<ref name="ledbetter">
{{cite book |last=Ledbetter |first=James |date=2011 |title= Unwarranted Influence: Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Military-Industrial Complex |publisher= Yale University Press |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Unwarranted_Influence/rxZ8BPomTlMC?hl=en&gbpv=0 |isbn= 978-0-300-15305-7}}
</ref>{{rp|p=15}}  Attempts to conceptualize something similar to a modern "military–industrial complex" did exist before 1961, as the underlying phenomenon described by the term is generally agreed to have emerged during or shortly after [[World War II]].<ref name="Brunton 1988 599–606">{{Cite journal |last=Brunton |first=Bruce G. |date=1988 |title=Institutional Origins of the Military-Industrial Complex |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4226018 |journal=Journal of Economic Issues |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=599–606 |doi=10.1080/00213624.1988.11504790 |jstor=4226018 |issn=0021-3624|url-access=subscription }}</ref> For example, a similar phrase was used in a 1947 ''[[Foreign Affairs]]'' article in a sense close to that it would later acquire, and sociologist [[C. Wright Mills]] contended in his 1956 book ''[[The Power Elite]]'' that a democratically unaccountable class of military, business, and political leaders with convergent interests exercised the preponderance of power in the contemporary West.<ref name="Ledbetter"/><ref>{{cite journal|last=Riefler|first=Winfield W.|date=October 1947|title=Our Economic Contribution to Victory|journal=Foreign Affairs|volume=26|issue=1|pages=90–103|jstor=20030091|doi=10.2307/20030091}}</ref><ref name="Brunton 1988 599–606"/>

==United States==
{{American imperialism}}
Some sources divide the history of the United States military–industrial complex into three eras.<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal|last=Lynn III|first=William|date= 2017|title=The End of the Military-Industrial Complex|url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=98998183&site=ehost-live.|journal=Foreign Affairs|volume=93|pages=104–110|via=EBSCOhost}}</ref>

===First era===
From 1797 to 1941, the U.S. government only relied on civilian industries while the country was actually at war. The government owned their own shipyards and weapons manufacturing facilities which they relied on through [[World War I]]. With World War II came a massive shift in the way that the U.S. government armed the military.

In World War II, the U.S. President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] established the [[War Production Board]] to coordinate civilian industries and shift them into wartime production. Arms production in the U.S. went from around one percent of annual [[Gross domestic product]] (GDP) to 40 percent of GDP.<ref name=":12" /> U.S. companies, such as [[Boeing]] and [[General Motors]], maintained and expanded their defense divisions.<ref name=":12" /> These companies have gone on to develop various technologies that have improved civilian life as well, such as [[Night-vision device|night-vision goggles]] and [[Global Positioning System|GPS]].<ref name=":12" />

===Second era (Cold War)===
The second era is identified as beginning with the coining of the term by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower. This era continued through the Cold War period, up to the end of the [[Warsaw Pact]] and the collapse of the [[Soviet Union]]. 

The phrase rose to prominence in the years following Eisenhower's farewell address, as part of [[Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War|opposition to the Vietnam War]].<ref name="roland">
{{cite book |last1=Roland |first1=Alex |title=Delta of Power: The Military-Industrial Complex |date=2021 |publisher=[[Johns Hopkins University Press]] |location=Baltimore |isbn=9781421441818}}
</ref>{{rp|21}}<ref name="cooling-ropp">
{{cite book |last=Ropp |first=Theodore |date=1977 |editor-last=Cooling |editor-first=Benjamin |title=War, Business, and American Society |publisher=Kennikat Press |pages=100–110 |chapter=Chapter 1: Nineteenth-Century European Military-Industrial Complexes |isbn=0-8046-9156-8}}
</ref>{{rp|10}} [[John Kenneth Galbraith]] said that he and others quoted Eisenhower's farewell address for the "flank protection it provided" when criticizing military power given Eisenhower's "impeccably conservative" reputation.<ref name="pursell-galbraith">
{{cite book |last=Galbraith |first=John |date=1972 |editor-last=Pursell |editor-first=Carroll |title=The Military-Industrial Complex |publisher=Harper & Rowe |pages=280-285 |chapter=Chapter 20: How to Control the Military |url=https://archive.org/details/militaryindustri0000purs |sbn=06-045296-X}}
</ref>{{rp|p=283|q=This warning was to become by a wide margin the most quoted of all Eisenhower statements. It was principally for the flank protection it provided for all who wanted to agree. For many years thereafter anyone (myself included) who spoke to the problem of the military power took the thoughtful precaution of first quoting President Eisenhower. He had shown that there were impeccably conservative precedents for our concern.}}

Following Eisenhower's address, the term became a staple of American political and sociological discourse. Many [[Vietnam War]]–era activists and polemicists, such as [[Seymour Melman]] and [[Noam Chomsky]] employed the concept in their criticism of U.S. foreign policy, while other academics and policymakers found it to be a useful analytical framework. Although the MIC was bound up in its origins with the bipolar international environment of the Cold War, some contended that the MIC might endure under different geopolitical conditions (for example, [[George F. Kennan]] wrote in 1987 that "were the Soviet Union to sink tomorrow under the waters of the ocean, the American military–industrial complex would have to remain, substantially unchanged, until some other adversary could be invented.").<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kennan |first=George Frost |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=60D6qQGjMdsC&pg=PA118 |title=At a Century's Ending: Reflections 1982–1995 |publisher=W.W. Norton and Company |year=1997 |isbn=978-0393316094 |page=118}}</ref> The collapse of the Soviet Union and the resultant decrease in global military spending (the so-called '[[peace dividend]]') did in fact lead to decreases in defense industrial output and consolidation among major arms producers, although global expenditures rose again following the [[September 11 attacks]] and the ensuing "[[War on terror]]", as well as the more recent increase in geopolitical tensions associated with strategic competition between the United States, [[Russia]], and [[China]].<ref>Nicastro, Luke. ''The U.S. Defense Industrial Base: Background and Issues for Congress.'' Congressional Research Service. October 12, 2023. Pp. 4-5. https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R47751</ref>

A 1965 article written by Marc Pilisuk and Thomas Hayden says benefits of the military–industrial complex of the U.S. include the advancement of the civilian technology market as civilian companies benefit from innovations from the MIC and vice versa.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Pilisuk|first1=Marc|last2=Hayden|first2=Thomas|date=July 1965|title=Is There a Military Industrial Complex Which Prevents Peace?: Consensus and Countervailing Power in Pluralistic Systems|journal=Journal of Social Issues|volume=21|issue=3|pages=67–117|doi=10.1111/j.1540-4560.1965.tb00506.x|issn=0022-4537}}</ref> In 1993, the Pentagon urged defense contractors to consolidate due to the fall of communism and a shrinking defense budget.<ref name=":12" />

===Third era===
[[File:01 04 2020 Anti-War Protest (49532968042).jpg|thumb|alt=A placard saying that war only benefits the military industrial complex is held by a woman who smiles into the camera. Another protestor holds a peace symbol placard saying "Peace with Iran". Protestors are wearing winter clothing and the trees have no leaves. The background is filled with the walls of brick buildings.|Anti-war protestor with sign criticizing the military-industrial complex]]

In the third era, U.S. defense contractors either consolidated or shifted their focus to civilian innovation. From 1992 to 1997 there was a total of US$55 billion worth of mergers in the defense industry, with major defense companies purchasing smaller competitors.<ref name=":12" /> The U.S. domestic economy is now tied to the success of the MIC which has led to concerns of repression as Cold War-era attitudes are still prevalent among the American public.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Moskos|first=Charles C. Jr.|date=April 1974|title=The Concept of the Military-Industrial Complex: Radical Critique or Liberal Bogey?|journal=Social Problems|volume=21|issue=4|pages=498–512|doi=10.2307/799988|jstor=799988 |issn=0037-7791}}</ref> Shifts in values and the collapse of communism have ushered in a new era for the U.S. military–industrial complex. The Department of Defense works in coordination with traditional military–industrial complex aligned companies such as [[Lockheed Martin]] and [[Northrop Grumman]]. Many former defense contractors have shifted operations to the civilian market and sold off their defense departments.<ref name=":12" /> In recent years, traditional defense contracting firms have faced competition from Silicon Valley and other tech companies, like [[Anduril Industries]] and [[Palantir Technologies|Palantir]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schwarz |first=Elke |date=2025-01-20 |title=Silicon Valley venture capital blowing up the US defense industry |url=https://asiatimes.com/2025/01/silicon-valley-venture-capital-blowing-up-the-us-defense-industry/#https://asiatimes.com/2025/01/silicon-valley-venture-capital-blowing-up-the-us-defense-industry/# |access-date=2025-05-07 |website=Asia Times |language=en-US}}</ref> over Pentagon contracts. This represents a shift in defense strategy away from the procurement of more armaments and toward an increasing role of technologies like cloud computing and cybersecurity in military affairs.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sindreu |first=Jon |title=How Silicon Valley and a New Pentagon Strategy Are Breaching the Defense Business |url=https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/how-silicon-valley-and-a-new-pentagon-strategy-are-breaching-the-defense-business-11640797977 |access-date=2025-05-07 |website=WSJ |language=en-US}}</ref> From 2019 to 2022, [[venture capital]] funding for defense technologies doubled.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kinder |first=Tabby |date=2023-06-20 |title=Silicon Valley VCs rush into defence technology start-ups |url=https://www.ft.com/content/d50dbbc0-9137-4411-8ac3-8254451e60a7 |access-date=2025-05-07 |work=Financial Times}}</ref>

===Military subsidy theory===
A debate exists between two schools of thought concerning the effect of U.S. military spending on U.S. civilian industry. Eugene Gholz of [[University of Texas at Austin | UT Austin]] said that Cold War military spending on aircraft, electronics, communications, and computers has been credited with indirect technological and financial benefits for the associated civilian industries. This contrasts with the idea that [[Research_and_development#United_States | military research]] threatens to [[Crowding out (economics) | crowd out]] commercial innovation. Gholz said that the U.S. government intentionally overpaid for military aircraft to hide a subsidy to the commercial aircraft industry. He presents development of the military [[Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker]] alongside the [[Boeing 707]] civilian jetliner as the canonical example of this idea. However, he said that the actual benefits that accrued to the Boeing 707 from the KC-135 program were minimal and that Boeing's image as an arms maker hampered commercial sales. He said that [[Convair]]'s involvement in military aircraft led it to make disastrous decisions on the commercial side of its business. Gholz concluded that military spending fails to explain the competitiveness of the American commercial aircraft industry.<ref name="Gholz" />

=== Connotations in U.S. politics ===
[[James Ledbetter]] and certain other scholars describe the phrase ''military–industrial complex'' as [[pejorative]].<ref name="ledbetter 6-7" /><ref name="roland 2" /><ref name="brandes 6" /> Some scholars suggest that it implies the existence of a conspiracy.<ref name="roland 22" /><ref name="brandes 276" /><ref name="cooling-sunseri 158" /> [[David S. Rohde]] compares its use in U.S. politics by [[Modern liberalism in the United States |liberals]] to that of the phrase ''[[Deep state conspiracy theory in the United States |deep state]]'' by [[Conservatism in the United States |conservatives]].<ref name="rhode iv" /><ref name="green" /><ref name="gross" /> Ledbetter further describes the phrase:<ref name="ledbetter 5-6" />

{{Blockquote|text=In the half century since Eisenhower uttered his prophetic words, the concept of the military{{en dash}}industrial complex has become a rhetorical [[Rorschach test|Rorschach blot]]{{em dash}}the meaning is in the eye of the beholder. The very utility of the phrase, the source of its mass appeal, comes at the cost of a precise, universally accepted definition.|author=}}

==Russia==
{{further|Arms industry of Russia}}
[[Russia]]'s military-industrial complex is overseen by the [[Military-Industrial Commission of Russia]]. {{As of|2024}}, Russia's military-industrial complex is made up of about 6,000 companies and employs about 3.5 million people, or 2.5% of the population.<ref name="Guardian Russia">{{cite news |title=‘A lot higher than we expected’: Russian arms production worries Europe’s war planners |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/15/rate-of-russian-military-production-worries-european-war-planners |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=15 February 2024}}</ref> In 2025, nearly 40% of Russian government spending will be on national defense and security.<ref name="Guardian Russia" /> This record-high allocation of 13.5 trillion rubles ($133.63 billion) is more than the spending allocated to education, healthcare, social programs and economic development.<ref>{{cite news |title=Russian Lawmakers Pass Spending Bill With Record Defense Budget |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/11/21/russian-lawmakers-pass-spending-bill-with-record-defense-budget-a87091 |work=[[The Moscow Times]] |date=21 November 2024}}</ref>

Russia ramped-up weapons production following the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine]], and factories making ammunition and military equipment have been running around the clock. Andrei Chekmenyov, the head of the Russian Union of Industrial Workers, said that "practically all military-industrial enterprises" were requiring workers to work additional hours "without their consent", to sustain Russia's war machine.<ref name="Guardian Russia" /> In January 2023, Russia's president [[Vladimir Putin]] said that Russia's large military-industrial complex would ensure its victory over Ukraine.<ref>{{cite news |title=Putin: Russian military-industrial might makes victory in Ukraine 'inevitable' |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/putin-russian-military-industrial-might-makes-ukraine-victory-inevitable-2023-01-18/ |work=[[Reuters]] |date=18 January 2023}}</ref>

According to Philip Luck of the [[Center for Strategic and International Studies]], Russia's [[Russo-Ukrainian war (2022–present)|war against Ukraine]] has "created a new class of economic beneficiaries—industries and individuals profiting from the war—who now have a vested interest in sustaining Putin's war economy".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Luck |first1=Philip |title=How Sanctions Have Reshaped Russia’s Future |url=https://www.csis.org/analysis/how-sanctions-have-reshaped-russias-future |website=[[Center for Strategic and International Studies]] |date=24 February 2025}}</ref> Russian political scientist [[Ekaterina Schulmann]] refers to this as a new "military-industrial class" whose welfare depends on the continuation of the war.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Schulmann |first=Ekaterina |date=March 2024 |title=Russia's New Military-Industrial Class |magazine=[[Foreign Policy]]}}</ref> Likewise, Luke Cooper of the Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform writes that "Russia has created a rent-based military industrial complex whose elites have an interest in large scale military spending". He says that while this military-industrial complex would have an incentive to oppose peace negotiations, "it seems plausible that the militarisation of the economy would remain a priority in a post-war situation regardless", justified by the "threat" from the West.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Cooper |first1=Luke |title=Russo-Ukrainian War: The Political  Economy of the Present Balance of Forces |url=https://peacerep.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Russo-Ukrainian-War-The-Political-Economy-of-the-Present-Balance-of-Forces-DIGITAL.pdf |website=PeaceRep: Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform |publisher=[[University of Edinburgh]] |pages=20, 42 |date=April 2025}}</ref>

However, Russia's military-industrial complex has been severely hindered by [[International sanctions during the Russo-Ukrainian War|international sanctions]] and by the demands of the war in Ukraine. This has highlighted Russia's dependence on Western components. Although Russia has bypassed some sanctions, and its military industry is resilient, this is not sustainable for long.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Boulègue |first1=Mathieu |title=Russia’s military-industrial complex and military innovation |url=https://www.chathamhouse.org/2024/07/assessing-russian-plans-military-regeneration/07-russias-military-industrial-complex-and |website=[[Chatham House]] |date=July 2024}}</ref>

==Similar terms==
{{see also|Industrial complex|List of industrial complexes}}

A related term is "[[defense industrial base]]" – the network of organizations, facilities, and resources that supplies governments with defense-related goods and services.<ref>Nicastro, Luke. ''The U.S. Defense Industrial Base: Background and Issues for Congress.'' Congressional Research Service. October 12, 2023. https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R47751</ref> Another related term is the "[[Iron triangle (US politics)|iron triangle]]" in the U.S. – the three-sided relationship between [[United States Congress|Congress]], the [[Federal government of the United States|executive branch]] bureaucracy, and [[Lobbying|interest groups]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Adams |first1=Gordon |title=The iron triangle: the politics of defense contracting |last2=D'Onofrio |first2=Christine |last3=Sokoloff |first3=Nancy |date=1981 |publisher=Council on Economic Priorities |isbn=978-0-87871-012-6 |series=Studies / Council on Economic Priorities |location=New York}}</ref>

A thesis similar to the military–industrial complex was originally expressed by [[Daniel Guérin]], in his 1936 book ''Fascism and Big Business'', about the [[fascism|fascist]] governments' ties to heavy industry. It would be defined as "an informal and changing coalition of groups with vested psychological, moral, and material interests in the continuous development and maintenance of high levels of weaponry, in preservation of colonial markets and in military-strategic conceptions of internal affairs."<ref>Pursell, C. (1972). ''The military–industrial complex''. Harper & Row Publishers, New York, New York.</ref> An exhibit of the trend was made in [[Franz Neumann (political scientist)|Franz Leopold Neumann]]'s book ''[[Behemoth: The Structure and Practice of National Socialism]]'' in 1942, a study of how Nazism came into a position of power in a democratic state.

In ''The Global Industrial Complex'', edited by American philosopher and activist [[Steven Best]], the "power complex" first analyzed by [[sociologist]] [[Charles Wright Mills]] 1956  work ''The Power Elite'', is shown to have evolved into a global array of "corporate-state" structures, an interdependent and overlapping systems of domination.<ref name="Best2011">{{cite book |editor1=Steven Best|editor2=Richard Kahn|editor3=Anthony J. Nocella II|editor4=Peter McLaren|authorlink= |editor1-link= Steven Best|editor4-link=Peter McLaren |date=2011|title=The Global Industrial Complex: Systems of Domination|chapter=Introduction: Pathologies of Power and the Rise of the Global Industrial Complex|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PJR-xV7QfykC&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&lpg=PP1&pg=PR9|publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |page=xvi|url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Richard-Kahn-2/publication/240595825_The_Global_Industrial_Complex_Systems_of_Domination/links/0c96051e6aae15b10c000000/The-Global-Industrial-Complex-Systems-of-Domination.pdf |isbn=978-0739136980}}</ref>

Matthew Brummer, associate professor at Tokyo's [[National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies]], has pointed out in 2016 Japan's "Manga Military" to denote the effort undertaken by the country's [[Ministry of Defense (Japan)|Ministry of Defense]], using film, anime, theater, literature, fashion, and other, along with [[Moe (slang)|moe]],  to reshape domestic and international perceptions of the Japanese military-industrial complex.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Japan: The Manga Military|url = https://thediplomat.com/2016/01/japans-creative-industrial-complex/|website = The Diplomat|access-date =October 5, 2025|first = Matthew|last = Brummer|date = January 2016}}</ref>

[[James Der Derian]]'s book ''Military-Industrial-Media-Entertainment-Network'' relates the convergence of [[cyborg]] technologies, [[video game]]s, media spectacles, [[war movie]]s, and "do-good ideologies" into what generates a mirage, as he claims, of high-tech, and low-risk "virtuous wars."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Virtuous War: Mapping the Military-Industrial-Media-Entertainment-Network|url=https://www.routledge.com/Virtuous-War-Mapping-the-Military-Industrial-Media-Entertainment-Network/Derian/p/book/9780415772396|access-date=October 5, 2025|website=Routledge & CRC Press|language=en}}</ref> American political activist and former [[Central Intelligence Agency]] officer [[Ray McGovern]] denounces the fact that, as he claims, American citizens are vulnerable to anti-Russian propaganda since few of them know the Soviet Union's major role in World War II victory, and blames for this the "corporate-controlled mainstream media." He goes on to label the culprits as the Military-Industrial-Congressional-Intelligence-Media-Academia-Think-Tank complex.<ref name="consortium news">{{cite news |title=Once We Were Allies; Then Came MICIMATT |url=https://consortiumnews.com/2020/05/08/ray-mcgovern-once-we-were-allies-then-came-micimatt/ |access-date=October 5, 2025|publisher=consortium news |date=8 May 2020}}</ref>

In the decades of the term's inception, other [[industrial complex]]es appeared in the literature:<ref name="Best2011"/>{{rp|ix–xxv}}
* [[Animal–industrial complex]];<ref name="Nibert2011">{{cite book |last= Nibert |first=David |editor1=Steven Best|editor2=Richard Kahn|editor3=Anthony J. Nocella II|editor4=Peter McLaren|author-link=David Nibert |editor1-link= Steven Best|editor4-link=Peter McLaren |date=2011|title=The Global Industrial Complex: Systems of Domination|chapter=Origins and Consequences of the Animal Industrial Complex |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |pages=197–209|url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/global-industrial-complex-9780739136980/|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ZM3gTCIWb0C&pg=PA197|isbn=978-0-7391-3698-0}}</ref>
* [[Prison–industrial complex]];
* [[Pharmaceutical industry|Pharmaceutical–industrial complex]];
* [[Entertainment#Industry|Entertainment-industrial complex]];
* [[Medical–industrial complex]];
* [[Hyperconsumerism|Corporate consumption complex]].<ref>{{Cite book |author=[[Nicholas Freudenberg]] |date=2014 |title=Lethal But Legal: Corporations, Consumption, and Protecting Public Health |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=9780190495374 |pages=95–123}}</ref>

=== Tech–industrial complex ===
In his 2025 farewell address, outgoing U.S. President [[Joe Biden]] warned of a "[[tech–industrial complex]]," stating that "Americans are being buried under an avalanche of [[misinformation]] and [[disinformation]], enabling the abuse of power."<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Holland |first1=Steve |last2=Singh |first2=Kanishka |date=2025-01-15 |title=Biden takes aim at 'tech industrial complex,' echoing Eisenhower |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-raises-alarm-about-dangerous-concentration-power-among-few-wealthy-people-2025-01-16/ |access-date=October 5, 2025 |website=[[Reuters]]}}</ref> 

The statement was made following [[Elon Musk]]'s appointment in the second [[Donald Trump]] administration and the public overtures towards Trump by technology industry leaders, including [[Meta Platforms|Meta]]'s [[Mark Zuckerberg]] and [[Amazon (company)|Amazon]]'s [[Jeff Bezos]], as well as the dismantling of Facebook's [[fact-checking]] program.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Falconer |first=Rebecca |date=January 1, 2025 |title=Biden warns against extreme wealth and rise of "tech industrial complex" in farewell address |url=https://www.axios.com/2025/01/16/biden-tech-industrial-complex-wealth-farewell-address-us |access-date=October 5, 2025|website=[[Axios (website)|Axios]]|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Johnson |first=Ted |date=January 16, 2025 |title=Joe Biden Warns Of "Tech Industrial Complex" In Farewell Speech: "Americans Are Being Buried Under An Avalanche Of Misinformation And Disinformation" |url=https://deadline.com/2025/01/joe-biden-farewell-address-tech-industrial-complex-1236258184/ |access-date=October 5, 2025 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Green |first=Erica L. |date=January 17, 2025 |title=In Farewell Address, Biden Warns of an 'Oligarchy' Taking Shape in America |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/15/us/politics/biden-farewell-address.html |access-date=October 5, 2025|work=[[The New York Times]]|url-access=subscription |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |quote=The Biden version referred to the “tech-industrial complex,” in which he warned of the erosion of truth itself, brought forth by unchecked social media platforms — a reference to Meta doing away with fact-checkers this week — and artificial intelligence.}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Economy}}
{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|
* [[List of defense contractors]]
* [[List of countries by military expenditures]]
* [[Top 100 Contractors of the U.S. federal government]]
* [[Corporate statism]]
* [[Government contractor]]
* [[Marketing of war]]
* [[Merchants of death]]
* [[Militarism]]
* [[Military budget]]
* [[Military-civil fusion]]
* [[Military-entertainment complex]]
* [[Military–industrial–media complex]]
* [[Military-digital complex]]
* [[Military Keynesianism]]
* [[National security#National security state|National security state]]
* [[Private military company]]
* [[Rostec]]
* [[Upward Spiral]]
* [[War profiteering]]
}}
; Literature and media
* ''[[The Complex: How the Military Invades Our Everyday Lives]]'' (2008 book by [[Nick Turse]])
* ''[[The Power Elite]] ''(1956 book by [[C. Wright Mills]])
* ''[[War Is a Racket]]'' (1935 book by [[Smedley Butler]])
* ''[[War Made Easy: How Presidents & Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death]]'' (2007 documentary film)
* ''[[Why We Fight (2005 film)|Why We Fight]]'' (2005 documentary film by [[Eugene Jarecki]])
; Other complexes or axes
* [[List of industrial complexes]]
; Miscellaneous
* [[Last Supper (Defense industry)]]

==References==
===Citations===
<references>
<ref name="ledbetter 5-6">
{{cite book |last=Ledbetter |first=James |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Unwarranted_Influence/rxZ8BPomTlMC?hl=en&gbpv=0 |title=Unwarranted Influence: Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Military-Industrial Complex |date=2011 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-15305-7 |pages=5-6 |quote=}}
</ref>
<ref name="ledbetter 6-7">
{{cite book |last=Ledbetter |first=James |date=2011 |title= Unwarranted Influence: Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Military-Industrial Complex |publisher= Yale University Press |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Unwarranted_Influence/rxZ8BPomTlMC?hl=en&gbpv=0 |isbn= 978-0-300-15305-7 |pages=6-7 |quote=It seems fair to say that the term “military-industrial complex” is almost always used as a pejorative (even if its best-known usage was arguably neutral, in that Eisenhower warned not against the MIC itself but against its “unwarranted influence”).}}
</ref>
<ref name="brandes 6">
{{cite book |last=Brandes |first=Stuart |date=1997 |title= Warhogs: A History of War Profits in America |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/232564945.pdf |isbn=0-8131-2020-9 |page=6 |quote=The word ''profiteering'' is disturbingly imprecise and nearly as pejorative as the term ''military-industrial complex''.}}
</ref>
<ref name="brandes 276">
{{cite book |last=Brandes |first=Stuart |date=1997 |title= Warhogs: A History of War Profits in America |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/232564945.pdf |isbn=0-8131-2020-9 |page=276 |quote=The concept of a "military-industrial complex" suggested a mysterious, clandestine conspiracy against the public purse, but not a deliberate plot to stir up war to fatten profits.}}
</ref>
<ref name="cooling-sunseri 158">
{{cite book |last=Sunseri |first=Alvin |date=1977 |editor-last=Cooling |editor-first=Benjamin |title=War, Business, and American Society |publisher=Kennikat Press |chapter=Chapter 11: The Military-Industrial Complex in Iowa |isbn=0-8046-9156-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/warbusinessameri0000unse |page=158 |quote=The term military-industrial complex ... suggests that a conspiracy exists between military leaders and industrialists; one that is designed to protect their vested interests.}}
</ref>
<ref name="roland 2">
{{cite book |last1=Roland |first1=Alex |title=Delta of Power: The Military-Industrial Complex |date=2021 |publisher=[[Johns Hopkins University Press]] |location=Baltimore |isbn=9781421441818 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Delta_of_Power/XT04EAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 |page=2 |quote=Perhaps the most consistent and abiding feature of the term "military-industrial complex" is the pejorative flavor that Eisenhower imparted to it.}}
</ref>
<ref name="roland 22">
{{cite book |last1=Roland |first1=Alex |title=Delta of Power: The Military-Industrial Complex |date=2021 |publisher=[[Johns Hopkins University Press]] |location=Baltimore |isbn=9781421441818 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Delta_of_Power/XT04EAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 |page=22 |quote=The ''military-industrial complex'' smacked of conspiracy, and the ''scientific-technological elite'' did nothing to dispel the ominous implications of Eisenhower's warning. Six decades later, the opprobrium implied in Eisenhower's language still hangs over the relationship between war, technology, and the state.}}
</ref>
<ref name="rhode iv">
{{cite book |last=Rhode |first=David |date=2020 |title=In Deep: The FBI, the CIA, and the Truth about America's "Deep State" |publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]] |isbn=9781324003557 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/In_Deep/ESafDwAAQBAJ |page=iv |quote=To conservatives, the "deep state" is an ever-growing government bureaucracy, an administrative state that they think relentlessly encroaches on the individual rights of Americans and whose highest loyalty is to its own preservation and power. Liberals are less apt to use the term "deep state," but they fear the "military-industrial complex"{{Em dash}}a cabal of generals and defense contractors who they believe routinely push the country into endless wars, operate a vast surveillance state, and enrich themselves in the process.}}
</ref>
<ref name="green">
{{cite web |last=Green |first=Lloyd |date=26 April 2020 |title=In Deep review: Trump v intelligence – and Obama v the people |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/apr/26/in-deep-state-review-david-rohde-donald-trump-intelligence-barack-obama |access-date=19 October 2025 |website=[[The Guardian]]}}
</ref>
<ref name="gross">
{{cite web |last=Gross |first=Terry |date=19 October 2020 |title='In Deep' Challenges President Trump's Notion Of A Deep-State Conspiracy |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/04/15/834874400/in-deep-challenges-president-trump-s-notion-of-a-deep-state-conspiracy |access-date=19 October 2025 |website=[[NPR]]}}
</ref>
<ref name="knowles 1152">
{{cite journal |last1=Knowles |first1=Robert |date=2021 |title=Delegating National Security |url=https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_lawreview/vol98/iss4/7/ |journal=Washington University Law Review |volume=98 |issue=4 |publisher=[[Washington University in St. Louis]] |page=1152 |access-date=20 October 2025 |issn=2166-8000 |quote=The term “military-industrial complex” later became so popular it devolved into a trope, losing its distinctiveness ... describing the phrase’s current meaning as a “rhetorical Rorschach blot”}}
</ref>
<ref name="Gholz">
{{Cite journal |last=Gholz |first=E. |date=2011-01-06 |title=Eisenhower Versus the Spin-off Story: Did the Rise of the Military-Industrial Complex Hurt or Help America's Commercial Aircraft Industry? |journal=Enterprise and Society |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=46–95 |doi=10.1093/es/khq134 |issn=1467-2227 |url=https://www.strausscenter.org/wp-content/uploads/pdf/enterprise_soc-2011-gholz-46-95.pdf}}
</ref>
</references>

===Sources===
{{refbegin|40em}}
* DeGroot, Gerard J. ''Blighty: British Society in the Era of the Great War'', 144, London & New York: Longman, 1996, {{ISBN|0582061385}}
* Eisenhower, Dwight D.  ''Public Papers of the Presidents'', 1035–1040. 1960.
* Eisenhower, Dwight D.  "Farewell Address."  In ''The Annals of America''.  Vol. 18.  ''1961–1968: The Burdens of World Power'', 1–5.  Chicago: [[Encyclopædia Britannica]], 1968.
* Eisenhower, Dwight D. [[s:Military–Industrial Complex Speech|President Eisenhower's Farewell Address]], Wikisource.
* Hartung, William D. [https://web.archive.org/web/20050910101525/http://www.worldpolicy.org/journal/hartung01.html "Eisenhower's Warning: The Military–Industrial Complex Forty Years Later."] ''World Policy Journal'' 18, no. 1 (Spring 2001).
* Johnson, Chalmers ''The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic'', New York: Metropolitan Books, 2004{{ISBN?}}
* Kurth, James.  "Military–Industrial Complex."  In ''The Oxford Companion to American Military History'', ed. John Whiteclay Chambers II, 440–442.  Oxford: [[Oxford University Press]], 1999. {{ISBN?}}
* Mills, C. Wright."Power Elite", New York, 1956
* Nelson, Lars-Erik. "Military–Industrial Man." In ''New York Review of Books'' 47, no. 20 (December 21, 2000): 6.
* [[Harold L. Nieburg|Nieburg, H. L.]] ''[[In the Name of Science]]'', Quadrangle Books, 1970 {{ISBN?}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* Adams, Gordon, ''The Iron Triangle: The Politics of Defense Contracting'', 1981.{{ISBN?}}
* {{cite book |last1=Alic |first1=John A. |chapter=The U.S. Politico–Military–Industrial Complex |title=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics |date=2021 |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.1870 |isbn=978-0-19-022863-7}}
* Andreas, Joel, ''Addicted to War: Why the U.S. Can't Kick Militarism'', {{ISBN|1904859011}}.
* {{cite book |last1=Byrne |first1=Edmund F. |title=Encyclopedia of Business and Professional Ethics |date=2017 |publisher=[[Springer International Publishing]] |isbn=978-3-319-23514-1 |pages=1–5 |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-319-23514-1_209-1 |language=en |chapter=Military Industrial Complex (MIC) |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-23514-1_209-1}}
* Cochran, Thomas B., William M. Arkin, Robert S. Norris, Milton M. Hoenig, ''U.S. Nuclear Warhead Production'' [[Harper and Row]], 1987, {{ISBN|0887301258}}
* [[Andrew Cockburn|Cockburn, Andrew]], "The Military-Industrial Virus:  How bloated budgets gut our defenses", ''[[Harper's Magazine]]'', vol. 338, no. 2029 (June 2019), pp.&nbsp;61–67.  "The military-industrial complex could be said to be concerned, exclusively, with self-preservation and expansion.... The [[defense budget]] is not propelled by foreign wars.  The wars are a consequence of the quest for bigger budgets."
* [[Andrew Cockburn|Cockburn, Andrew]], "Why America Goes to War: Money drives the US military machine", ''[[The Nation]]'', vol. 313, no. 6 (20–27 September 2021), pp.&nbsp;24–27.
* Friedman, George and Meredith, ''The Future of War: Power, Technology and American World Dominance in the 21st Century'', Crown, 1996, {{ISBN|051770403X}}
* {{cite book |author=Good, Aaron |title=American Exception: Empire and the Deep State |location=New York |publisher=Skyhorse Publishing |year=2022 |isbn=978-1510769137}}
* {{cite book |last1=Hooks |first1=Gregory |chapter=Military–Industrial Complex, Organization and History |title=Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace, & Conflict |edition=2nd |date=2008 |pages=1278–1286 |doi=10.1016/B978-012373985-8.00109-4 |isbn=978-0-12-373985-8}}
* Hossein-Zadeh, Ismael, ''The Political Economy of US Militarism.'' New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2006.{{ISBN?}}
* Keller, William W., ''Arm in Arm: The Political Economy of the Global Arms Trade.'' New York: Basic Books, 1995.{{ISBN?}}
* Kelly, Brian, ''Adventures in Porkland: How Washington Wastes Your Money and Why They Won't Stop'', Villard, 1992, {{ISBN|0679406565}}
* Lassman, Thomas C. "Putting the Military Back into the History of the Military-Industrial Complex: The Management of Technological Innovation in the U.S. Army, 1945–1960", ''Isis'' (2015) 106#1 pp.&nbsp;94–120 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/681038 in JSTOR]
* [[Jessica T. Mathews|Mathews, Jessica T.]], "America's Indefensible Defense Budget", ''[[The New York Review of Books]]'', vol. LXVI, no. 12 (18 July 2019), pp.&nbsp;23–24.  "For many years, the United States has increasingly relied on military strength to achieve its foreign policy aims.... We are [...] allocating too large a portion of the [[United States federal budget|federal budget]] to defense as compared to domestic needs [...] accumulating too much [[federal debt]], and yet not acquiring a forward-looking, twenty-first-century military built around new [[Cyberwarfare|cyber]] and [[space technologies]]."  (p.&nbsp;24.)
* McDougall, Walter A., ''...The Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age'', Basic Books, 1985, ([[Pulitzer Prize]] for History) {{ISBN|0801857481}}
* Melman, Seymour, ''Pentagon Capitalism: The Political Economy of War'', McGraw Hill, 1970{{ISBN?}}
* Melman, Seymour, (ed.) ''The War Economy of the United States: Readings in Military Industry and Economy'', New York: [[St. Martin's Press]], 1971.
* Mills, C Wright, ''The Power Elite.'' New York, 1956, {{ISBN|0195133544}}
* Mollenhoff, Clark R., ''The Pentagon: Politics, Profits and Plunder.'' New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1967{{ISBN?}}
* Patterson, Walter C., ''The Plutonium Business and the Spread of the Bomb'', Sierra Club, 1984, {{ISBN|0871568373}}
* Pasztor, Andy, ''When the Pentagon Was for Sale: Inside America's Biggest Defense Scandal'', Scribner, 1995, {{ISBN|068419516X}}
* Pierre, Andrew J., ''The [[Global politics|Global Politics]] of Arms Sales.'' Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1982.
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Preble |first=Christoper |author-link= |editor-first=Ronald |editor-last=Hamowy |editor-link=Ronald Hamowy |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism |chapter=Military-Industrial Complex |chapter-url=https://sk.sagepub.com/reference/libertarianism/n201.xml |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yxNgXs3TkJYC  <!-- |doi=10.4135/9781412965811.n201 --> |year=2008 |publisher=[[SAGE Publishing|Sage]]; [[Cato Institute]] |location=Thousand Oaks, CA |isbn=978-1412965804 <!-- |oclc=750831024| lccn = 2008009151 --> |pages=328–329}}
* {{cite book |last1=Roland |first1=Alex |title=Delta of Power: The Military-Industrial Complex |date=2021 |publisher=[[Johns Hopkins University Press]] |location=Baltimore |isbn=9781421441818}}
* {{cite book |last1=Ritter |first1=Daniel P. |last2=McLauchlan |first2=Gregory |chapter=Military–Industrial Complex, Contemporary Significance |title=Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace, & Conflict |edition=Second |date=2008 |pages=1266–1278 |doi=10.1016/B978-012373985-8.00104-5 |isbn=978-0-12-373985-8}}
* Sampson, Anthony, ''The Arms Bazaar: From Lebanon to Lockheed.'' New York: Bantam Books, 1977.{{ISBN?}}
* St. Clair, Jeffery, ''Grand Theft Pentagon: Tales of Corruption and Profiteering in the War on Terror.'' Common Courage Press, 2005.{{ISBN?}}
* Sweetman, Bill, "In search of the Pentagon's billion dollar hidden budgets – how the US keeps its R&D spending under wraps", from ''[[Jane's Defence Weekly|Jane's International Defence Review]]'', [http://www.janes.com/defence/news/jidr/jidr000105_01_n.shtml online]
* Thorpe, Rebecca U. ''The American Warfare State: The Domestic Politics of Military Spending.'' Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2014.{{ISBN?}}
* Watry, David M., ''Diplomacy at the Brink, Eisenhower, Churchill, and Eden in the Cold War'', Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University Press, 2014.{{ISBN?}}
* [[Sharon Weinberger|Weinberger, Sharon]], ''Imaginary Weapons'', New York: Nation Books, 2006. {{ISBN |9781560258490}}.
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Wikisource|Military–Industrial Complex Speech}}
{{Wikiquote}}
[[File:Eisenhower's "Military-Industrial Complex" Speech Origins and Significance.webm|thumb|right|upright=0.9|From the National Archives]]

* [https://www.economist.com/business/2011/12/03/khaki-capitalism?fsrc=scn%2Ffb%2Fwl%2Far%2Fkhakicapitalism Khaki capitalism], ''[[The Economist]]'', December 3, 2011
* [https://www.jstor.org/stable/587620?seq=1 C. Wright Mills, Structure of Power in American Society, British Journal of Sociology, Vol. 9. No. 1 1958]
* [http://www.panarchy.org/eisenhower/farewelladdress.html Dwight David Eisenhower, Farewell Address] On the military–industrial complex and the government–universities collusion – January 17, 1961
* [https://americanrhetoric.com/speeches/dwightdeisenhowerfarewell.html Dwight D. Eisenhower, Farewell Address] As delivered transcript and complete audio from AmericanRhetoric.com
* [http://www.panarchy.org/statism/military.complex.html William McGaffin and Erwin Knoll, The military–industrial complex], An analysis of the phenomenon written in 1969
* [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=907187 The Cost of War & Today's Military Industrial Complex], [[National Public Radio]], January 8, 2003.
* Human Rights First; [https://web.archive.org/web/20100508152055/http://www.humanrightsfirst.info/pdf/08115-usls-psc-final.pdf Private Security Contractors at War: Ending the Culture of Impunity (2008)]
* [http://www.democracynow.org/2011/1/20/fifty_years_after_eisenhowers_farewell_address Fifty Years After Eisenhower's Farewell Address, A Look at the Military–Industrial Complex] – video report by ''[[Democracy Now!]]''
* [https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/research/online-documents/farewell-address Online documents, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhJbjdIXJWY 50th Anniversary of Eisenhower's Farewell Address] – [[Eisenhower Institute]]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNL2StZNjmM Part 1 – Anniversary Discussion of Eisenhower's Farewell Address] – [[Gettysburg College]]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l46uaYk-OpA Part 2 – Anniversary Discussion of Eisenhower's Farewell Address] – [[Gettysburg College]]

{{Dwight D. Eisenhower}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Military–industrial complex| ]]
[[Category:1961 neologisms]]
[[Category:Arms industry]]
[[Category:Military economics|Industrial complex]]
[[Category:Snowclones]]
[[Category:Dwight D. Eisenhower]]