{"id":132887,"date":"2019-05-06T12:00:36","date_gmt":"2019-05-06T11:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=132887"},"modified":"2019-05-03T10:48:30","modified_gmt":"2019-05-03T09:48:30","slug":"global-military-spending-has-soared-to-its-highest-level-in-recorded-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2019\/05\/global-military-spending-has-soared-to-its-highest-level-in-recorded-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Global Military Spending Has Soared to Its Highest Level in Recorded History"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

1 May 2019<\/em>\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Global military spending reached its highest level since the records began two decades ago, according to a new analysis released Monday [29 Apr]\u2014an increase led by the United States and China.<\/p>\n

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) revealed in its latest\u00a0annual report<\/a>\u00a0that countries around the world collectively poured $1.82 trillion into their militaries in 2018, a 2.6 percent rise from the previous year. Together, the top two spenders, the United States and China, accounted for about half of all spending.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe increase in U.S. spending was driven by the implementation from 2017 of new arms procurement program under the Trump administration,\u201d Aude Fleurant, director of SIPRI\u2019s Arms and Military Expenditure (AMEX) program,\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0in a statement.<\/p>\n

At $649 billion, US military spending increased for the first time in 7 years by 4.6% in 2018. The US remained the largest spender in the world, accounting for 36% of global military spending.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more in SIPRI\u2019s Fact Sheet: https:\/\/t.co\/vkhLyUZ155<\/a>#MILEX<\/a> #GDAMS<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/vARyNPwYiR<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 SIPRI (@SIPRIorg) April 29, 2019<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Last year, the U.S. military expenditure\u2014which represents more than a third of global spending\u2014increased for the first time in seven years. It rose by 4.6 percent, hitting $649 billion.<\/p>\n

SIPRI researcher Nan Tian\u00a0told<\/a>\u00a0German broadcaster\u00a0Deutsche Welle<\/em>\u00a0that trend is expected to continue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have started to implement a new modernization program of the military that will start in 2019 or 2020,\u201d Tian explained. \u201cThis is in the region of $1.8 trillion over the next 20 years. It is a massive amount of money being spent by the U.S.\u2014and it ranges from conventional weapons to nuclear capabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Progressives continue to\u00a0criticize<\/a>\u00a0President Donald Trump for his focus on military spending\u2014particularly in contrast with his lack of investment elsewhere, from education and housing to clean air and water.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s recent budget proposal \u201cfinds vast billions for militarization, while it cuts much smaller poverty and other programs,\u201d Lindsay Koshgarian of the National Priorities Project and Rev. Drs. William J. Barber II and Liz Theoharis\u00a0wrote<\/a>\u00a0for\u00a0The Guardian<\/em>\u00a0last month.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor too long, we have had budgets that provide security for a wealthy and powerful few rather than the poor and disenfranchised many,\u201d they added, acknowledging previous presidents\u2019 contributions to military expansion. \u201cReal security means establishing peace, justice, and promoting the material wellbeing and liberty of all, including future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The US spent $649 billion on the military in 2018, a total which is almost greater than the next top 8 countries combined.<\/em><\/p>\n

New SIPRI analysis available now <\/em>\u27a1<\/em> \u00a0https:\/\/t.co\/gY0BuUP01h<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/0EBHmCqOMd<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 SIPRI (@SIPRIorg) April 29, 2019<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

China, which secured the second spot for SIPRI\u2019s analysis, spent $250 billion on its military in 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowth in Chinese military spending tracks the country\u2019s overall economic growth,\u201d Tian said in a statement. \u201cChina has allocated 1.9 percent of its GDP to the military every year since 2013.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other big spenders, per the report, included Saudi Arabia ($67.6 billion), India ($66.5 billion), France ($63.8 billion), Russia ($61.4 billion), the United Kingdom ($50 billion), Germany ($49.5 billion), Japan ($46.6 billion), and South Korea ($43.1 billion).<\/p>\n

Although Saudi Arabia decreased its military spending from the previous year, the kingdom\u2014which, along with the United Arab Emirates, is leading a\u00a0U.S. and U.K.-backed<\/a>\u00a0war on\u00a0Yemen<\/a>\u2014still led the world as the biggest spender per capita. The United States ranked second.<\/p>\n

Overall, SIPRI found that military expenditure rose in Central America and the Caribbean, Central Europe, Central and South Asia, East Asia, North America, South America, and Western Europe, but declined in Eastern Europe, North Africa, Oceania, South East Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the countries in the Middle East for which data is available.<\/p>\n

As a\u00a0fact sheet<\/a>\u00a0(pdf) explains, SIPRI calculates a country\u2019s total military expenditure by considering what is spent on armed forces, defense ministries and related government agencies, para-military forces, and military space activities. That includes salaries and pensions for all relevant personnel \u201cas well as expenditure related to operations and maintenance, procurement, military research and development, and military aid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nearly half of the 15 biggest spenders\u2014Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States\u2014are members of NATO, an international military alliance of 29 North American and European countries. NATO nations put a total of $963 billion toward their militaries in 2018\u2014over half of global spending.<\/p>\n

7 of the 15 highest military spenders are members of #NATO<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n

Canada
\nFrance
\nGermany
\nItaly
\nTurkey
\nUK
\nUSA<\/em><\/p>\n

Comparison in the graphic below and in SIPRI\u2019s latest report <\/em>\u27a1<\/em> https:\/\/t.co\/vkhLyUZ155<\/a>#MILEX<\/a> #GDAMS<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/gxAZ2Mi10B<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 SIPRI (@SIPRIorg) April 29, 2019<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Go to Original \u2013 activistpost.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1 May 2019 \u2014 Global military spending reached its highest level since the records began two decades ago, according to a new analysis released Monday [29 Apr]. At $649 billion, US military spending increased for the first time in 7 years by 4.6% in 2018. The US remained the largest spender in the world, accounting for 36% of global military spending.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":132888,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[232,244,120,504,291,639,70,126,1073,75],"class_list":["post-132887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-militarism","tag-capitalism","tag-china","tag-conflict","tag-international-relations","tag-military","tag-uk","tag-usa","tag-violence","tag-weapons","tag-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132887\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}