1. This vague but widely used term indicates the close relationship between agencies of the state, large companies, scientists, and other groups. The term is usually attributed to President Eisenhower, who used it to highlight what he regarded as the threat to open democracy resulting from the concentration of economic and political power arising from high defence spending in the USA. For analysis of the concept of the MIC, seeKennedy, 1983; Kaldor, 1990; and Fine,1993.