SPIKE IN DEFENCE SPENDING GLOBALLY IN THE LAST DECADE

The profession of arms is the oldest profession in the world and it presumably started with the first man throwing the first stone at another human being.

- COL MANOJ MEHROTRA* AND VIPUL MEHROTRA

Background

The profession of arms is the oldest profession in the world and it presumably started with the first man throwing the first stone at another human being. Since then, the race of arms has been unending, more so when the man stated organizing into groups and into tribes, kingdoms, and nations in the modern era. The advent of technology spruced up the variety and as warfare progressed from land, sea, air, Electronic warfare, NBC warfare, cyber warfare; the inventory continued to grow in numbers and variety. Not only is a requirement to upgrade the weapons, but also substantial expenditure is incurred on maintenance and accessories which contribute to defence spending.

The Spike in the Last Decade – The Facts

The defence expenditure by different countries has always been a matter of concern as well as interest by not only the rivals but also by the arms industry, for obvious reasons. However, of late, the substantial increase has been noticed in the present decade(2010-2019) as compared to the last one(2000-2010). The world suddenly seems to wake up after the 9/11 attack and the Mumbai attack in 2008. It can be noticed that irrespective of the period, the largest spenders always have been the same. While the US has always been the largest spender (larger than the combined expenditure of many nations), it has been the inclusion of countries of the Middle East and SE Asia, that has raised eyebrows. A large jump is noticed in the expenditure by The Dragon(China) which has nearly doubled its defence expenditure from 119 Bn $ in 2010 to 181.1 Bn $ in 20199amounting to a total 14% of global spending.