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According to the latest report released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in Sweden, the total global military spending has hit a record high, reaching a record 2.4 trillion US dollars.
Global military spending will increase by 6.8% in 2023, the largest increase in more than a decade, and another feature is that military spending has increased around the world, especially in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
The United States continues to rank first with $916 billion, accounting for 37 percent of global military spending, more than the next nine countries combined, accounting for 3.4 percent of their GDP.
When looking at the military expenditure of various countries, we should not only look at the absolute amount, but also look at the proportion of GDP, and compare it with the proportion of education, medical care, infrastructure construction and other expenditures of various countries.
He has always tried to stay at the forefront of technological development, investing huge sums of money in military technology research and development, and he wants to ensure that he is one generation ahead of his allies and two generations ahead of his opponents, so as to seek absolute military superiority over other countries and seek global hegemony and global deterrence. However, despite this, he is also showing more and more inadequacy, North Korea and Iran have claimed to have developed hypersonic weapons, the US military's related projects have frequently failed, and the manufacture and maintenance of naval ships have also shown a decline.
The growth of global military spending, from a regional point of view, it is easier to understand the sharp increase in military spending in Europe, the war between Russia and Ukraine has continued to burn violently for more than two years, which will of course lead to a sharp rise in military spending, and not only Russia and Ukraine, many European countries are increasing military spending to purchase weapons and equipment.
The two countries concerned, Russia and Ukraine, are even more exploding. Researchers estimate that Russia's military spending will increase by 24 percent to $109 billion in 2023 and by 57 percent since the annexation of Crimea in 2014. Ukraine's military spending also increased by 51 percent to $64.8 billion, in addition to receiving $35 billion in military aid, mainly from the United States, which adds up to 90 percent of Russia's, which explains why Russia and Ukraine are inseparable.
However, Ukraine's military spending accounts for too much of 37% of GDP, while Russia accounts for 5.9%, after all, Russia's economy is much larger, which shows that Russia can withstand attrition in comparison, but it is also unsustainable for Russia, the Soviet Union was not dragged down in Afghanistan back then, and Russia has to deal with not only Ukraine, which has been in a state of bloodletting for a long time, and will inevitably become weaker and weaker.
In the past two years, the increase in military spending in European countries has been large, several of which have increased by more than 10%, Sweden, which has just joined NATO, has increased by 30%, and Poland has increased by 75%, totaling 31.6 billion US dollars, and the Polish Foreign Minister said that Poland will increase its annual military spending to 8% of GDP, and the reason for this is that Poland is worried that once Ukraine is defeated, it will be pushed to the front.
It is understandable that military spending in the Middle East has increased significantly, with Israel increasing by the largest of 24%, $27.5 billion, mainly due to the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which previously averaged $1.8 billion per month and soared to $4.7 billion by the end of 2023. Israel is the second largest military spender in the Middle East, the first largest is Saudi Arabia, spending 75.8 billion US dollars, he also increased by 4.3%, Saudi Arabia is special, he does not produce advanced weapons, mainly relies on imports, and he purchases equipment is generally only expensive, according to the saying that the cost performance is very low, and the cost of later use and maintenance is also very expensive.
It is inevitable that the Asian region, where the Middle East is located, will increase its military spending significantly. The United States has shifted its strategic focus to the Asia-Pacific region, with 60 percent of its conventional military strength in the Western Pacific, a region that is increasingly unstable. In 2023, Japan's military spending will increase by 11% to $50.2 billion, and India will increase by 4.3% to a total of $83.6 billion.
The report shows that there will be 183 regional conflicts in the world in 2023, the highest in 30 years, which is also a direct reflection of the deterioration of the global peace and security situation.
Take a look at the journalist: Li Suning
Editor: Li Suning
Video Editor: Shi Ruigang
Editor-in-charge: Fang Liang