Equilibrium Redirection

Abstract

Strategies that are meant to change the equilibrium of supply and demand have been talked about at length, such as through preclu-sive purchasing, distribution channel destruction, and so on. Some are meant to improve economic conditions, others to harm them, and many are meant to target only specific groups within a region rather than the general population. In all cases, however, there is some direct manipulation of economic forces that are meant to have strategically important results, and in all cases such a direct approach may have too strong a result. It is possible to have an impact on the economic environment of a geographic location without any actual actions other than simply having people and equipment in the area. This will result in a far more subtle influence on the economic conditions but, by looking at the economic role that occupation troops have on a nation without any further actions, or the effect that an OCONUS (Outside Continental United States) military base has on a nation that the United States is not at war with (such as Ramstein Air Force base in Germany), it becomes possible to determine exactly what economic influence a military is possible of exerting without taking any additional actions beyond merely arriving in the area.