Peace Through Partnership: IGO Membership and Military Spending

This paper examines the role International Intergovernmental Organization (IGO) memberships have on defense expenditures, arguing that state leaders substitute high military spending rates for IGO membership as the information transmission mechanisms of IGOs offer more accurate information about the security environment that diminishes the need for military spending. States do not become pacifists as they are integrated into the international network of IGOs; rather, they find a reduced usefulness in and need for a robust military. This project empirically tests this relationship, and findings indicate a small but significant relationship between military spending and IGO membership. The most integrated states experience a 1 percent reduction in their overall military spending rates. However, this only applies to non-security IGOs. Contrary to previous findings, security IGOs have no consistent influence on military spending.