For the first time since the Cold War, global military spending exceeded $1-trillion in 2004 — nearly half of it by the United States, a prominent European think tank said on Tuesday.
As military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and the war on terror continue, the world spent $1,035-trillion (R6,89-trillion) on defence costs during the year, corresponding to 2,6% of the planet’s gross domestic product, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) said.
The figure ”is only 6% lower in real terms than it was in [1987-1988], which was the peak,” said Sipri researcher Elisabeth Skons, who co-authored the organisation’s annual report.
Worldwide, military spending rose by 6%, matching the average annual increase since 2002, the institute said.
The US accounted for 47% of all military expenditure, while Britain and France each made up 5% of the total.
Besides its regular defence budget, the US has allocated an extra $238-billion (R1,5-trillion) since 2003 to fight terrorism, according to the report.
”These appropriations are now assuming extraordinary proportions,” Skons said.
While continued military operations in the Middle East are responsible for much of the military spending, the rest of the world is also spending more money on security, the report said.
”It’s hard to put the US in the centre, or blame everything on the US,” said Alyson JK Bailes, the think tank’s director. — Sapa-AP