# Multimedia 

Multimedia 

---

- [Podcasts](/podcasts)
- [Cato Video](/multimedia/cato-video)
- [Video Series](/search/category/video-series)
- [Events](/multimedia/events)

[ 

Download Episode 

](https://assets.pippa.io/shows/5e3db1b9659d595770f8b9b0/83c428ee0333ede56aad01b0959a64ea.mp3)Subscribe:

[ 

Apple Podcasts 

](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/power-problems/id1282100393) [ 

Spotify 

](https://open.spotify.com/show/7LrC4meqQkPvzFqP9PMwkS) 

Power Problems • September 24, 2019 

# The US Defense Industry: Arsenal of Democracy or the Walmarts of War? 

Jonathan Caverley of the Naval War College joins Emma Ashford and Trevor Thrall to discuss the defense industry and the arms trade.

- [Jonathan Caverley bio](https://usnwc.edu/Faculty-and-Departments/Directory/Jonathan-D-Caverley)
- Jonathan Caverley, “[Slowing the Proliferation of Major Conventional Weapons: The Virtues of an Uncompetitive Market](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/ethics-and-international-affairs/article/slowing-the-proliferation-of-major-conventional-weapons-the-virtues-of-an-uncompetitive-market/9D39D7CB982F491FF19BBD413779DDA4#),” *Ethics & International Affairs*, Vol. 31, No. 4, Winter 2017
- Jonathan Caverley, “[America’s Arms Sales Policy: Security Abroad, Not Jobs at Home](https://warontherocks.com/2018/04/americas-arms-sales-policy-security-abroad-not-jobs-at-home/),” *War on the Rocks*, April 6, 2018
- [Security Assistance Monitor](http://securityassistance.org/)
- [SIPRI Arms Transfers Database](https://www.sipri.org/databases)
- A. Trevor Thrall and Caroline Dorminey, “[Risky Business: The Role of Arms Sales in U.S. Foreign Policy](https://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/risky-business-role-arms-sales-us-foreign-policy),” Policy Analysis, No. 836, March 13, 2018
- Ray Rounds, “[The Case against Embargos, Even for Saudi Arabia](https://warontherocks.com/2019/04/the-case-against-arms-embargos-even-for-saudi-arabia/),” *War on the Rocks*, April 16, 2019

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/). 

##### Featuring 

[![Media Name: thrall-cropped.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/authors/crops/thrall-cropped.jpg?itok=z4kJ8rE_)](/people/trevor-thrall) 

##### [A. Trevor Thrall](/people/trevor-thrall)

Former Senior Fellow, Defense and Foreign Policy Department, Cato Institute

[ 

](http://www.twitter.com/trevor_thrall) 

[![Emma Ashford New](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2025-07/emma-ashford-new.jpg?itok=IOYhTao_)](/people/emma-ashford) 

##### [Emma Ashford](/people/emma-ashford)

Senior Fellow, Stimson Center

[ 

](https://twitter.com/EmmaMAshford) 

![Jonathan D. Caverley](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2025-10/jonathan-d-caverley.jpeg?itok=zoZTmUcV) 

##### Jonathan D. Caverley 

Visiting Senior Fellow for Defense and Military Analysis, IISS-Americas