Defence Offsets and the Global Arms Trade

Jonata Anicetti is a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Security Studies, Metropolitan University Prague (MUP), and he has a PhD in International Relations from the European University Institute (EUI).

• Introduction 1. Everything You Need to Know About Defence Offsets: Ontology, History, Politics, and Trends 2. Toward a Liberal-Rationalist Theory of Defence Offsets 3. Performing QCA Analysis on 54 FGA Transfers 4. Brazil’s FX(2) Fighter Aircraft Competition 5. India’s MMRCA Tender: The ‘Mother of All Defence Deals’ 6. South Korea’s F-X3 Conclusions

'Jonata Anicetti’s treatment of defence offset is both novel and refreshing. A liberalist-rationalist theoretical framework is employed to critically evaluate the conceptual, historical and contemporary application of offset. In particular, the author examines the offset performance of fighter aircraft programmes by reference to Brazilian, Indian and South Korean case studies, and poses questions as to why offset was sought, why the respective offset packages proved so materially different and why the goal of ‘strategic partnership’ was not a generic outcome. The book represents a huge contribution to knowledge and is a must-read by all scholars of defence-related technology management.'Ron Matthews, Chair, Defence and Security Capability at Rabdan Academy, Abu Dhabi, and Visiting Professor in Defence Economics at Cranfield University at the UK Defence Academy, UK'Jonata Anicetti's defence offset study is very timely and reflects a need to better understand this persistent and demand driven practice in defence procurement. His deep analysis of the significant Korean, Indian and Brazilian defence acquisition programs, together with a survey of the breadth of offset transactions in aerospace, present for the first time a holistic analysis in his liberalist-rationalist approach. The importance of the work is as much in the powerful policy options it shows are clearly available to governments, as in the new directions in defence and industrial policy research opened by these thorough and well researched papers.'Rodrik Cave, Publisher, Countertrade & Offset (CTO), London, UK