I POST THIS AS A POINT WORTHY OF DISCUSSION. I DO NOT MAKE ANY CLAIMS OR POSITION OF THE MATTER EXPRESSED IN THE ARTICLE.
PERHAPS FEWER COUNTRIES WOULD BE IN MASSIVE DEBT WITHOUT SUCH HUGE EXPENDITURES?
GLOBAL MILITARY SPENDING OVER $2.4 TRILLION IN 2023
Military spending is soaring across the globe, with particularly large increases recorded in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, according to a new report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
Total global military expenditure was up 6.8 per cent in real terms last year, reaching an alltime high of $2.4 trillion.
The figure marks the steepest year-on-year increase since 2009, the report shows, with the top three
spenders last year being the United States, China, and Russia.
The US, which spends more on defence than any other nation, ramped up expenditure by 2.3 per
cent to $916 billion, representing 68 per cent of total NATO military spending.
China allocated an estimated $296 billion to its military in 2023.
With an increase of six per cent from 2022, the country accounted for half of total military spending
across Asia and Oceania.
The report indicated that the Ukraine conflict has led to an increase in spending not only by Kiev and Moscow, but also by "a whole host" of European countries.
Russia's outlays rose 24 per cent to an estimated $109 billion in 2023, according to SIPRI. The
country's spending on its armed forces made up 16 per cent of the total government budget and its
military burden (military spending as a share of gross domestic product) was 5.9 per cent.
Ukraine was the eighth largest spender in 2023, after a surge of 51 per cent to $64.8 billion. SIPRI
noted that the country also received $35 billion in military aid, with most of it coming from the US.
The study found that in 2023 NATO's then 31 members accounted for $1.3 trillion, equal to 55 per cent of the world's military expenditure.
The report also highlighted that geopolitical tensions in the Middle East have fuelled the biggest
defence spending increases of the past decade. Estimated regional military expenditure increased by
nine per cent to $200 billion in 2023. Israel's budget—the second largest in the region after Saudi
Arabia—jumped by 24 per cent to $27.5 billion last year, SIPRI concluded.
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7 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.World GDP was $105 trillion in 2023 so the wasted productivity is one thing but the threat of global nuclear war instigated by the mentally aberrant is a far greater concern.
Polemicist
Level 7
June 23, 2024
1
In my humble opinion, sure countries need the military to protect themselves,from themselves mostly, but take the U.S for example, their military spending could be cut back by half to pay off their national debt. Other countries are much the same. There is so much spent on destruction that could be used for other pursuits like space exploration, colonising the moon and mars. Improving the living standards of all life on earth.
But of course as long as we harbour our robber baron mentality, steal, kill assimilate , destroy and discard, I fear things will never progress.
vocaloldfart
Level 8
June 23, 2024
2
We could also rid this country of tax exempt churches and other organizations that interfere in politics violating their 501c3 status or molest children.... Then we can also end the Trump tax cuts and raise the upper tier tax rate to at least 70% so that in 10 years we could be debt free... FYI ending the Trump tax cuts for the obscenely wealthy in this country would save almost 2 trillion a year...
Yemen, Sudan, Sunni vs. Shi-ite, Isreal vs. Hezbollah, Myanmar, Xi and Tibet, ...
Military spending is a rational response to the murderous madmen who are in positions of power, including but not limited to, Putin, Xi, Kim, the warlords of Yemen and Sudan, and the drug lords in Mexico and elsewhere.
anglophone
Level 9
June 22, 2024
1
True but it is us ordinary people who give these madmen their power. Without our support they would be nobodies. I think we should look into ourselves beefore we elect or point a finger at someone else.
@vocaloldfart I would agree with you in some cultures, but not in others. I cite North Korea and Josef Stalin as counter-examples.
@anglophone There are many examples of such despots we would have been better off without. Is it not the anger and hatred espoused by these animals that fuels the arms race, expenditures and destruction?? What if we stopped giving them support and attention??
@vocaloldfart It depends on who the "we" are. The citizens of North Korea have a very different relationship with their "Glorious Leader" when compared with the citizens of Ukraine and Zelensky, for example. The citizens of the USA likewise have a very different relationship with their own government.
@anglophone I am honestly really at a loss to understand American politics. The hatred displayed by ordinary citizens for both political parties. Too me it seems like their country is headed for civil war no 2.
In Australia it is "she'll be right mate" ' even when it clearly isn't. We get to choose between dastardly Dutton the disaster or Albo the arsehole.. Simple choices s their policies barely indistinguishable.
@vocaloldfart That's what happens, whether in the US or Australia, when it's a two party system by default, and both parties have become bought by the ruling class. In either country, it's a plutocracy, and not an actual functioning democracy, so the federal elections are mostly a charade, to lull the citizens into thinking they still have a democracy, and that their voting actually matters or will change federal policy.
It is supposed to be "defence spending". What the USA spends on "defence" is the equivalent of a household that instead of just buying some CCTV cameras and improving their locks to employing its own armed security force 24/7. One wonders just how threatening Mexico and Canada are to US borders?
No, the US military is not a "defensive force". They are an "offensive force" and it is used (or the threat of it is used) to try and control the world to be more to America's liking.
@273kelvin I like the way that you have broadened the debate. 
You would be a fool to not prepare for the increased demand for arms based on Russia invading Ukraine, Israel committing genocide, China claiming everything in sight. And that's just a few of the increased threats... gonna get worse before it gets better.
Shaggy2018
Level 7
June 22, 2024
5
If any country appears to look weak, they will try to take over that country. Because certain countries want world domination, all countries should spend for their own defense. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Some countries use their military to gain territories and power, others destabilize the economy and stability of other countries to gain power and economic dominance. England, The United States, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia, China, Israel, France, The Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Portugal. They all do it. This has always been done throughout history, and it will always continue in the future.
There is big money in weapons and warfare, I fear things are never going to change unless we change ourselves. We need to learn to practise ,enforce and make peace a condition of life
bombs before butter. It is the sad American way.
Leetx
Level 7
June 22, 2024
4
It is the way if the world.
true...and I get that the Military Industrial Complex creates jobs...but,..damn.... do we need so much ? and making food and distribution would create jobs too. @Flyingsaucesir
Not only in America, influential chunks of Europe and Asia enjoy a massive economic boost dealing and devising instruments of mass murder.
@Leetx Yes it would if the Republicans hadn't destroyed the family farms in favor of the huge food factories they are now. This started under Nixon and has now gotten to the point where very few are left and those are deeply in debt.
@Leetx Same with building more housing that the unhoused could actually use, would create jobs and solve much of homelessness.
@TomMcGiverin Even ending the legality of allowing equity companies buying up homes and rental properties then jacking up the rents would solve most of that...
@Lizard_of_Ahaz But, but, but.... we can't have that, because it would be interfering with how capitalism is supposed to work...
@TomMcGiverin Have you ever read Adam Smith?.... He hated the idea of Capitalism. Lincoln said that labor was more important than capital because without labor there could be no capital. Socialism is only a governor that keeps the engine of capitalism from running wild and destroying out the society that depends on it...
@Lizard_of_Ahaz Yes, I have..
Blame Russia for the recent rises in military spending and the Republicans for the US debt.... Of course the Republicans here support Russia.
Lizard_of_Ahaz
Level 9
June 22, 2024
6
Russia and America are not the only despots on the planet.
@vocaloldfart America is not yet a despot and won't become one unless the Republicans win in November... Something you are helping them to do and the timing of this reply shows you are likely in Russia posting this where it is now 9AM...
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