Monday, April 27, 2020
'Halt
This Madness': US Drove Last Year's Over $1.9 Trillion in Global Military
Spending
"The COVID-19 crisis has made clearer than ever the flaws
in our system, one that prioritizes military spending and global instability
over the well-being of our people."
commondreams.org/news/2020/04/27/halt-madness-us-drove-last-years-over-19-trillion-global-military-spending
A
new analysis on Monday showing that the world's military spending surpassed
$1.9 trillion last year, once again led
by the United States under President Donald Trump, provoked demands that
governments across the globe prioritize peace and the health of people as the
coronavirus pandemic continues to ravage the planet.
The
latest annual
report from the Stockholm International Peace Research
Institute (SIPRI) found that the top military spenders after the U.S. were
China, India, Russia, and Saudi Arabia. Total spending in 2019 was 3.6% higher
than in the previous year and
accounted for 2.2% of global gross domestic product (GDP).
"Global
military expenditure was 7.2% higher in 2019 than it was in 2010, showing a
trend that military spending growth has accelerated in recent years,"
SIPRI researcher Nan Tian said in
a statement. "This is the highest level of spending since the 2008 global
financial crisis and probably represents a peak in expenditure."
The
report was released Monday as the global number of confirmed COVID-19
cases climbed toward
three million and the pandemic's death toll stood at over 207,000. Highlighting
the new SIPRI data in the midst of the outbreak Monday, the U.K.-based Campaign
Against Arms Trade (CAAT) declared on Twitter that "out of this crisis we
must build a world where real human needs are prioritized."
New
data released today by @SIPRIorg
shows a post-WW2 record in global military spending in 2019 of $1917 billion.
Out of this crisis we must build a world where real human needs are
prioritised. Time to #MoveTheMoney
#HealthcareNotWarfare
#JustRecovery
@DemilitarizeDay
In
a statement responding
to the analysis, the International Peace Bureau (IPB) also pointed to the
public health crisis as evidence of the need for a worldwide shift in
priorities.
"The
COVID-19 crisis has made clearer than ever the flaws in our system, one that
prioritizes military spending and global instability over the well-being of our
people," IPB said. "Indeed, global priorities are wrong; it is time
for a new era of peace, a global ceasefire as called for by the U.N. and people
around the globe. Let us demilitarize the world and invest in global peace and
diplomacy."
Sharing
a SIPRI infographic, IPB co-president Philip Jennings tweeted: "The
military industry complex is raking it in and we don't feel safer. Time to halt
this madness."
The
military industry complex is raking it in and we don’t feel safer. Time to halt
this madness.@IntlPeaceBureau https://twitter.com/sipriorg/status/1254513100352618496 …
The
SIPRI findings, as the statement from Jennings' group noted, were published
during IPB's Global Days of Action on Military Spending (GDAMS),
which run from April 10 to May 9 and "highlight the need to reallocate
military expenditure to confront COVID-19 and the urgent social and
environmental crises."
The
new analysis followed a National Priorities Project report from last week
that warned against
a global pandemic response which aims to return to an old normal "defined
by unfettered capitalism that thrives on the devastation of our planet, the
devaluation of human life, and the use of military force to perpetuate
both."
The
SIPRI report also came after a bipartisan group of U.S. congress members were
lambasted by progressives in late March for pressuring their fellow federal
lawmakers to approve the purchasing of 19 more F-35 fighters than the Pentagon
requested in an upcoming defense bill. The anti-war group Peace Pledge
Union responded by
criticizing the "outrageous priorities of militarists during the
coronavirus pandemic."
Military
spending by the United States—which has been the global epicenter of the
pandemic for the past month—soared to $732 billion in 2019, accounting for 38%
of the global military expenditure and representing a rise of 5.3% from the
previous year. SIPRI senior researcer Pieter D. Wezeman said that "the
recent growth in U.S. military spending is largely based on a perceived return
to competition between the great powers."
Who
were the top 10 military spenders in 2019?
1) USA
2) China
3) India
4) Russia
5) Saudi Arabia
6) France
7) Germany
8) UK
9) Japan
10) South Korea
Together they spent $1430 billion, accounting for 75% of global military spending
http://bit.ly/3ayfseU
1) USA
2) China
3) India
4) Russia
5) Saudi Arabia
6) France
7) Germany
8) UK
9) Japan
10) South Korea
Together they spent $1430 billion, accounting for 75% of global military spending
http://bit.ly/3ayfseU 
"There
were increases in military spending by China (5.1%), India (6.8%), and Russia
(4.5%). Spending fell in Saudi Arabia by 16%," according to SIPRI. China,
in the second spot behind the U.S., spent $261 billion in 2019, and India,
which ranked third globally, spent $71.1 billion.
"India's
tensions and rivalry with both Pakistan and China are among the major drivers
for its increased military spending," explained Siemon T. Wezeman, another
SIPRI senior researcher.
Although,
as the SIPRI statement pointed out, "the increase in U.S. spending in 2019
alone was equivalent to the entirety of Germany's military expenditure for that
year," the European country's spending still rose by 10% last year to
$49.3 billion, which was the largest increase among the top 15 ranked
countries.
"The
growth in German military spending can partly be explained by the perception of
an increased threat from Russia, shared by many North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) member states," said SIPRI researcher Diego Lopes da
Silva. "At the same time, however, military spending by France and the
United Kingdom remained relatively stable."
Russia,
ranked fourth globally, boosted its military spending by 4.5% to $65.1 billion
in 2019. SIPRI researcher Alexandra Kuimova noted that "at 3.9% of its
GDP, Russia's military spending burden was among the highest in Europe in
2019."
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"The master class
has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.
The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject
class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their
lives." Eugene Victor Debs
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