"Southeast Asia's post-Cold War submarine purchases were driven…" — Corwin J. Hardy (#c1389)

Card #c1389IR // #c1389SynthesisMilitary report

Southeast Asia's post-Cold War submarine purchases were driven by deterrence and maritime enforcement, not prestige — Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore bought for deterrence plus enforcement, Vietnam for deterrence; prestige had no credible evidence behind it.

— In our words · Source: At Periscope Depth: Exploring Submarine Proliferation in Southeast Asia (Corwin J. Hardy)

[Use when]

Prestige is the lazy explanation for an arms purchase — check the threat ledger first.

[Why it matters]

When states buy submarines they are not showing off — they are buying the ability to make an adversary do the math; misread the motive and you misread the arms race.