by Joshua Kucera
Azerbaijan was the second-largest arms importer in Europe over the past five years, according to a new report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, an arms trade research group. Continue reading–>
Modernizing the Polish Military
by John Feffer
By law, Poland must spend at least 1.95 percent of its GDP on its military. That’s just a shade under the 2 percent that NATO asks its members to devote. Aside from Estonia, however, Poland is way ahead of the rest of the region in military spending. And when President Barack Obama visited Poland in June 2014, Poland committed to upping its allocation to 2 percent, with an expectation that it will rise to 2.5 percent in 2015. The situation in Ukraine – a divided country, with Russia backing separatists in the East – is fueling security concerns in Poland and the Baltic countries in particular. Continue reading–>
This map shows how the rest of the world doesn’t even come close to the US’ military spending
by Amanda Macias
The US continues to hold the indisputable top spot in defense spending, designating more than the combined expenditures of the top 15 nations according to an annual report from the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Continue reading–>
Nato defence spending falls despite promises to reverse cuts
By Jonathan Beale
Colin Archer of IPB comments: It is disappointing to see both the BBC and the European Leadership Network bewailing the continuing (though still small) decline in military spending. And also that they persist in using the “% of GDP” comparison, whereas if they looked at the actual proportion of government spending as a whole the percentage would be much higher.
Despite the Ukraine crisis and increasing tensions with Russia, most Nato members are doing little to reverse the decline in their defence spending. Continue reading–>
Despite faltering economy, Russia will continue defense upgrade
by Daniel Costa-Roberts
In the face of a moribund economy and growing tensions with the west, Moscow will move ahead with a planned decade-long upgrade of the Russian military, raising 2015 defense spending to 3.3 trillion rubles ($50 billion), a 30 percent nominal increase over last year. Continue reading–>
