http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/authors/4378/nicholas-taber Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Sat, 13 Jun 2026 05:55:46 -0400 Sat, 13 Jun 2026 05:55:46 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1605/commercial-interests-political-influence-and-the-arms-trade By Nicholas Taber - Given the importance of the global defense trade to geopolitics, the global economy, and international relations at large, this paper examines the political economy of the U.S. defense industry. The goal of this study is to determine the extent to which the U.S. arms trade is driven by commercial interests. This study hypothesizes that an increase in the political influence of the U.S. arms industry leads to any increase in arms exports. Using the congruence method, this study observes campaign contributions in given years from defense corporations with the largest market shares. While strong... Fri, 31 May 2013 12:00 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1605/commercial-interests-political-influence-and-the-arms-trade