Convergence of Military Burdens in the MENA Region

Abstract

Military burdens in hostile environments may be high, as countries choose to spend on the military for deterrence purposes. In this study, we test whether the convergence hypothesis is valid for military burdens of a panel of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries. The results of the analysis suggest that there is unconditional beta-convergence for the panel; however, individual convergence is valid for only Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia. We also test whether the military burdens of Israel and the United States influence the military burdens of the countries in the panel. The results suggest that only the military burdens of Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and Turkey converge to that of Israel, while individual convergence to the United States is only valid for Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, and Tunisia.