International Security and Defence Policy



International Security and Defence Policy

Military expenditures, broadly defined, are the aggregate funds spent by a national government for military-related purposes. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute's annual SIPRI Yearbook 2007, the aggregate military expenditure by all national governments in 2006 was $1.024 billion in market exchange rate (MER) terms. Adjusted for inflation, this figure marked a 37% growth in military budgets since 1997. This level of increased military spending follows a long trend that dates to World War II and that greatly accelerated during the Cold War. The levels of military spending over the past 60 years have been—and continue to be—a dynamic force that has deeply altered the fabric of social, political, spatial, and economic relationships, from the scale of the local to that of the global. There are four fundamental aspects of military expenditures. First, high levels of military expenditure are a prerequisite for the geopolitical power of a nation-state, a point exemplified by a global U.S. hegemony, which is founded upon enormous levels of military spending. Second, preparation for war has increasingly integrated private firms, modern production practices, and technological innovation with government spending. This mixture has created a military-industrial complex dedicated to the production of arms. Third, military spending has spatially reorganized local, national, and global economies in a manner quite different from that of the civilian economy. Fourth, high levels of military spending accelerate the inter national proliferation of advanced weaponry. Finally, there are significant methodological problems inherent in all military expenditures data that must be addressed in geographical research, especially given the polemical debate that often infuses popular discourses on national spending.

Military Spending and the Production of Geopolitical Power

Ranking national military expenditures in MER terms, when combined with similar data from previous years, reveals the close link between military spending and the production of global geopolitical power. The major military spender in 2008 was the United States, with $6.071 billion. This accounts for 41% of world military spending in the same year. China, with $84.9 billion, came in second. France and the United Kingdom each spent roughly $65 billion, putting them in third and fourth place, respectively. Russia ranked fifth, with $58.6 billion. Russia's status marks a stark contrast to the position of the former USSR, which typically vied with the United States for the title of the world's biggest military spender during the Cold War.



The Military-industrial Complex

Aggregate military expenditure figures break down into numerous subcategories, including labour and health care costs for personnel; operations and management costs for logistical management; procurement costs for new weapons, hardware, ammunition, and other supplies; research, design, testing, and engineering (RDT&E) costs of designing new weapon systems; and construction and maintenance costs for bases, supply depots, and housing for personnel. Labour, operations and management, health care, and construction costs are a significant portion of most military spending, particularly within the United States, where military service members receive free housing and health care. This entry concentrates on the effects of procurement and ...