Contents:
1. From Defence to Development? Ann Markusen and Sean DiGiovanna
2. Post Cold War Conversion: Gains, Losses and Hidden Changes in the US Economy Michael Oden, Laura Wolf-Powers, and Ann Markusen
3. Spanish Defense Industrial Restructuring in the Post-Cold War Decade Antonia Casellas
4. The Polish Defense Industry: REstructuring in the Midst of Economic Transition Marla Nelson
5. The Dismantling of the Argentine Defense Industry Graziellla Cavicchia
6. Diversification and Niche Market Exporting: The Restructuring of Israel's Defense Industry in the Post-Cold War Era ^David Lewis
7. Defense Conversion in South Africa: A Lost Opportunity Soraya Goga
8. Diversification of Defense Based Industries in India Sudha Maheshwari
9. Defense Conversion in China: an Economic Review Shaolin Chen
10. The South Korean Defense Industry in the Post Cold War Era Yong-Sook Lee and Ann Markusen

Since World War II, America's economic landscape has undergone a profound transformation. The effects of this change can be seen in the decline of the traditional industrial heartland and the emergence of new high tech industrial complexes in California, Texas, Boston, and Florida. The Rise ofthe Gunbelt demonstrates that this economic restructuring is a direct result of the rise of the military industrial complex (MIC) and a wholly new industry based on defense spending and Pentagon contacts. Chronicling the dramatic growth of this vast complex, the authors analyze the roles played by the shift from land and sea warfare to aerial combat in World War II, the Cold War, the birth of aerospace and the consequent radical transformation of the airplane industry, and labor and major defense corporations such as Boeing, Lockheed, and McDonnell Douglas. Exploring the reasons for the shifts in defense spending--including the role of lobbyists and the Department of Defense in awarding contracts--and the effects on regional and national economic development, this comprehensive study reveals the complexities of the MIC.

Over the past thirty years, transnational investment, trade, and government policies have encouraged the decentralization of national economies, disrupting traditional patterns of urban and regional growth. Many smaller cities -- such as Seattle, Washington; Campinas, Brazil; Oita, Japan; and Kumi, Korea -- have grown markedly faster than the largest metropolises. Dubbed here "second tier cities, " they are home to specialized industrial complexes that have taken root, provided significant job growth, and attracted mobile capital and labor.

The culmination of an ambitious five-year, fourteen-city research project conducted by an international team of economics and geographers, Second Tier Cities examines the potential of these new regions to balance uneven regional development, create good, stable jobs, and moderate hyper-urbanization. Comparing across national borders, the contributors describe four types of second tier cities: Marshallian industrial districts, hub-and-spoke cities, satellite platforms, and government-anchored complexes. They find that both industrial and regional policies have been important contributors to the rise of second tier cities, though the former often trump the latter. Lessons for local, national, and international policymakers are drawn. The authors are critical of devolution and argue that it must be accompanied by strong labor and environmental standards and mechanisms to overcome differential regional resource endowments.