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I have a burning need to know stuff and I love asking awkward questions.

Friday, October 31, 2008

Global Military Spending Soars 45 Percent in 10 Years

by Agence France Presse

Monday, June 9, 2008

STOCKHOLM - World military spending grew 45 percent in the past decade, with the United States accounting for nearly half of all expenditures, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said Monday. Military spending grew six percent last year alone, according to SIPRI’s annual report. In 2007, 1,339 billion dollars (851 billion euros) was spent on arms and other military expenditures, corresponding to 2.5 percent of global gross domestic product, or GDP, and 202 dollars for each of the world’s 6.6 billion people. The United States spends by far the most towards military aims, dishing out 547 billion dollars last year, or 45 percent of global expenditure.

Britain, China, France and Japan — the next in line of big spenders — lag far behind, accounting for just four to five percent of world military costs each. “The factors driving increases in world military spending include countries’ foreign policy objectives, real or perceived threats, armed conflict and policies to contribute to multilateral peacekeeping operations, combined with the availability of economic resources,” the SIPRI report said. Registering the greatest regional growth was Eastern Europe, which saw its military spending skyrocket 162 percent between 1998 and 2007 and 15 percent from 2006 to 2007. Russia, whose expenditures ballooned 13 percent last year, was responsible for 86 percent of the growth in the region, according to SIPRI.

North America meanwhile saw its military spending swell 65 percent, largely driven by the United States, which has seen its costs grow 59 percent since the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington. “By 2007, US spending was higher than at any time since World War II,” the SIPRI report said. In the past decade, the Middle East has boosted military expenditures by 62 percent, South Asia by 57 percent and Africa and East Asia by 51 percent each. Western Europe was the region with the least military spending growth at just six percent, followed by Central America at 14 percent.

At a national level, “China has increased its military spending threefold in real terms during the past decade,” SIPRI said, adding however that “due to its rapid economic growth, the economic burden of military spending is still moderate, at 2.1 percent of GDP”. As a direct result of the increased military outlay, sales by the world’s 100 leading arms producing companies (excluding in China) jumped nearly nine percent in 2006 compared to the year before to 315 billion dollars, SIPRI said.

Sixty-three of the 100 top weapons firms are based in the United States and Western Europe, accounting alone for 292.3 billion dollars in sales in 2006, the last year for which SIPRI has numbers.

[It would seem that no matter the economic situation there is always room for more military spending. It is also good to see the US helping so many people defend their right to kill other people by selling them the guns to do so - whilst at the same time making the world a much safer place to live in. Who said that the free market should stay out of the war business – because business is GOOD.]

4 comments:

wstachour said...

This fervent outsourcing of our military and security--something started under Reagan and continued with religious fervor (literally) under W and Cheney and Rummy and Wolfowitz and Gingrich and DeLay and the rest of the cabal--results in the biggest part of our budget going to the profits of immense corporate conglomerations.

There's no way this can be thought to primarily serve the good of the greater public. It's a development intended to vastly enrich a small group.

And it results in really horrific entities like Blackwater, which is a shameful development for a democracy to be exporting to the world.

Thomas Fummo said...

I know this is a serious topic, but this:

'It is also good to see the US helping so many people defend their right to kill other people'

made me laugh out loud.
Sorry :-S I'm crazy like that.

p.s. word verification is 'facker'.
sigh... only one letter short...

dbackdad said...

"Peace sells, but who's buying?" -- You can't keep the military-industrial complex rolling with peace. We act shocked with the violence around the world, not once thinking that they are shooting guns and using tanks we sold them. Until there is a culture change over here, we can't expect one anywhere else.

CyberKitten said...

wunelle said: This fervent outsourcing of our military and security--something started under Reagan and continued with religious fervor (literally) under W and Cheney and Rummy and Wolfowitz and Gingrich and DeLay and the rest of the cabal--results in the biggest part of our budget going to the profits of immense corporate conglomerations.

Ah, outsourcing - the latest management fad..... Wonderful isn't it? Who actually thinks up this shit?

tf said: p.s. word verification is 'facker'.
sigh... only one letter short...

I've noticed the verification thing being a bit strange lately. Thankfully its not only me... For a second there I started feeling a bit paranoid [grin]

dbackdad said: Until there is a culture change over here, we can't expect one anywhere else.

Unfortunately its not just the US that's doing this sort of thing. They're just the biggest seller of arms - not the only one. It seems like everyone capable of producing arms domestically sells them to anyone with the money - or loans the money to people who can't afford to buy their guns (how weird is that!) It surprises me that at no point people think that we're going to be facing these people at some point in the future and they'll be pointing our own weapons back at us....