The Impact of The September 9/11 Terrorist Attacks on the Arms Trade and Defense Expenditures of States

Defense expenditures are important for the protection of states from internal and external threats and for ensuring security. In this context, the securitization of defense expenditures after the September 11 terrorist attacks increased the defense spending of countries and brought about the globalization of terrorism together with the changing agenda of security. The September 11 terrorist attacks caused an increase in the defense expenditures of states. With the increase in asymmetric threats and the deepening and expanding security discussions, states started to take joint action against the risk of global terrorism after September 11. In this case, the uncertainty experienced in the nature of the threat after the Cold War had a significant impact. This uncertainty experienced in the nature of the threat caused states to seek security, especially with the September 11 terrorist attacks, as the reference object of security to be protected as the referent object of protection. This search for security led to an increase in defense expenditures. In this sense, the aim of the article is to analyze the change in the defense expenditures of states after the September 11 attacks through the Copenhagen School securitization and desecuritization approaches, which are critical security approaches.