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Opinion | How Ukraine war and US opportunism are driving surge in global defence spending
- Recent research suggests global military spending rose almost 4 per cent last year as countries react to shifting geopolitical realities
- Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is driving this surge, the US is using it to spur Nato defence spending and there is likely more increases to come
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It seems the purse strings for global military spending are quickly loosening amid the changing geopolitical realities across the globe. According to a report published earlier this month by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, total global military expenditure in 2022 rose 3.7 per cent in real terms, reaching a staggering US$2.24 trillion.
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Three immediate inferences can be drawn from this report. First, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is the main driving factor behind this surge.
Second, while keeping its military spending expansion at a relatively low 0.7 per cent, the United States has astutely used the war in Ukraine to spur its Nato allies to increase their defence spending, which it struggled to do in the last two decades.
Third, this year is going to see further intensification in military spending, particularly in Europe and the Indo-Pacific region. The threat from China is being employed to get regional players such as Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea to increase their military budgets. Meanwhile, military spending in Europe saw its steepest year-on-year increase in 30 years.
It seems the global arms race continues unabated.
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For obvious reasons, the war in Ukraine is seen as the main reason behind the sharp rise in the military spending in 2022, particularly in central and western Europe. There is no doubt Russia’s invasion has set off a chain reaction in military spending decisions throughout the continent.
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