Up in arms: why Nato wants a big defence spending hike

With autocracy on the rise, a return to Cold War levels of military funding is now a necessary evil, writes Sam Kiley

- Sam Kiley

Nato chief Mark Rutte has called for a fivefold increase to air and missile capabilities – and his demand to raise defence spending across the alliance to 5 per cent has raised the voices of doom to a scream.

A return to Cold War levels of defence spending is not, however, a hysterical plea from a lackey of the military-industrial complex. It is a sad acknowledgement that the peace dividend that came with the collapse of the Soviet Union has been squandered by the West in a pointless war in Afghanistan and a criminal conflict in Iraq which expanded the list of peoples with a good reason to hate democracy.

But there were plenty around already. Vladimir Putin is one of them, Xi Jinping is another – Donald Trump is rushing to their ranks. Autocracy is on the rise around the world while democracies have been consumed by complacency.

“Wishful thinking will not keep us safe,” said Rutte, who called for Nato to become a “stronger, fairer and more lethal alliance”.

“The fact is, we need a quantum leap in our collective defence. The fact is, we must have more forces and capabilities to implement our defence plans in full. The fact is, danger will not disappear even when the war in Ukraine ends.”

He’s right, of course. But he is the secretary general of a military alliance. He is banging the drum for more money because he wants to see a return to the days when l– mutually assured destruction – was the sword that hung over every head on the planet.