As NATO expands in the West and ASEAN expands in the East, both regional security blocs are setting off a race for new arms -- and generating windfall profits for the US defense industry. PNS commentator Thi Lam is a former general in the Republic of South Vietnam and the author of "Autopsy: The Death of South Vietnam" (1985).

Resurrecting the ghost of the Cold War's "Evil Empire" and raising the specter of an emerging "Asian threat" may be risky -- but the potential payoff is huge.

Political analysts have been quick to point to the dangers involved in expanding the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Russia could react by reversing its decision to abandon nuclear weapons. NATO troops could be dragged into a bloody, Bosnia-style civil war. Adding new members could weaken, even disrupt, the Western military alliance.

However, leaders of the 16 member nations of NATO, meeting last month in Madrid, decided that the prospect of a Europe that is "undivided, democratic and at peace" more than offset all possible risks.

What was not so obvious was that NATO expansion will also mean big windfall profits for Western defense firms -- which have lost no time cashing in on the new Western strategy.

Major US. defense firms, such as Boeing and McDonnell Douglas (soon to merge) Lockheed Martin, and Bell Helicopter have already opened offices in Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic -- the new NATO members -- according to a recent article in the San Jose (CA) Mercury News. These former Soviet bloc countries, in fact, are required to replace their aging fighters with standard NATO military aircraft to meet NATO standards. This "interoperability," as it is called, permits easy communication, planning and supply among NATO members.

These three countries must spend an estimated $10 million to acquire the aircraft needed. US firms are reportedly in fierce competition with French and Swedish manufacturers to sell their products to their former enemies.

One condition for NATO membership is a candidate country's ability to "improve" its armed forces. This can be simply translated into the financial wherewithal to buy Western military hardware. Romania and Slovenia, for example, strong contenders for membership but financially strapped, were rejected in the first wave of NATO expansion.

On the opposite side of the globe, China's assertiveness has heightened fears of a major regional conflict. Territorial claims on the strategic Spratly Islands, and more recently on the Natumas and Sankakus island groups, have triggered both a new U.S. containment strategy and an intense arms race in Asia.

Again, major western firms stand to benefit. The U.S.-Japan security pact, updated last June, provided for Japan assuming a greater role in regional security. The two countries are now working on an agreement on standardizing equipment similar to the NATO rule. According to an article in the usually authoritative Far Eastern Economic Review, Japan has already ordered the latest generation of Airborne Early Warning Control (AWACS) planes from the United States and is considering the purchase of its first spy satellite.

As for the United States, although it is committed to a "one China" policy, it recently sold a fleet of F-16 fighters to the Republic of China (Taiwan). The French, not to be outdone, recently sold the engine for their latest fighter to China and a number of Mirage aircraft to Taiwan. The Review also reported that France is considering the sale of an old aircraft carrier to China, which is eager to project its power in the western Pacific.

Within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Philippines and Indonesia, wary of China's territorial ambitions, are actively seeking to improve their air and naval capabilities. The United States recently conducted joint naval maneuvers with the Philippines in the vicinity of the Spratleys, and is considering selling F-16 jet fighters to the island nation. Indonesia (barred from purchasing F-16s because of allegations of improper involvement in US campaign financing) has said it will turn to France for new fighters.

Voltaire once wrote, "If there was no God, it would be necessary to invent one." Inventing an evil empire might be necessary for the healthy functioning of the U.S. and European economies in a period of dwindling need for military hardware.

In the end, who will be able to blame the western powers for expanding NATO and raising the specter of China as an emerging empire? After all, these moves may be a lucrative way of containing a potential enemy.