Global defence spending rose by 10 percent to reach $2.2 trillion, with NATO members accounting for half the total, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). Military analyst Igor Chibisov explains whether this relates to military conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine or whether it is a general global trend of our time.
“The weapons produced must be in demand, which requires wars and military conflicts. Of course, the increase in defence budgets is directly connected with military conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine. This has become the main factor in the growth of the arms market. More than fifty countries around the world are helping Ukraine conduct military operations against Russia. However, by providing assistance to Kiev and expressing fears about an alleged military threat from Russia, these countries are thus shaping their military budgets upward. For the first time in NATO history, all members of the bloc are legally committed to bringing their defence spending above 2 percent of GDP. This is not a target, but a minimum indicator for the 32 member countries of the alliance. The continued rise in global military spending in recent years is a sign that we live in an increasingly turbulent world. Many countries are strengthening their military power amid a weakening security situation, with no prospects for its improvement in the near future,” the expert notes.
He continued, “Military spending in Central and Western Europe, e.g., has returned to Cold War levels. The main violin in increasing global defence spending remains the US, creating military tension around the world and unleashing military conflicts in its own interests in order to maintain global hegemony: a unipolar world. They enable American military-industrial complex enterprises to make huge profits.”
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Russia was for the first time the third largest arms exporter, falling just behind France (whose exports increased by 47 percent and whose share in global arms exports now stands at 11 percent). Between 2019-2023, arms exports from Russia dropped by 53 percent compared to 2014-2018, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The first place belongs to the United States, which – compared to the previous five-year period – increased arms sales by 17 percent (accounting for 42 percent of the world market). According to SIPRI’s previous report on the state of the arms trade in 2018-2022, the US and Russia led the way in global arms sales.
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