SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Nora, 24, from Washington, D.C., stands outside of the White House on January 8, 2020. (Photo: Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
Fueled by US Under Trump, Global Military Spending in 2019 Had Biggest Increase in a Decade
The amount the United States increased in defense spending between 2018 and 2019 was nearly the same as the United Kingdom's entire defense budget.
Feb 13, 2020
2019 saw the biggest increase in global military spending in a decade, according to data published Friday, which also showed the United States ramping up war expenditures under President Donald Trump.
The findings are from The Military Balance 2020, the latest annual assessment from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) formally launched at the Munich Security Conference.
According to the report, which measures over 170 countries, global defense spending rose 4% in 2019 compared to 2018 amid "an unstable international security environment."
The U.S. continued to claim top spot in military expenditures, spending $638 billion in 2019. China was the second biggest spender at $185 billion. Both countries' spending grew 6.6% compared to the prior year.
But, "the trajectory of the two states' defense spending is diverging," wrote Lucie Beraud-Sudreau, IISS research fellow for Defence Economics and Procurement, in a related blog post. "The budget increase in the U.S. was the largest in 10 years, and spending has increased year-on-year since U.S. President Donald Trump took office. While spending is still rising in China, the pace of growth is decelerating." As a result, the spending gap between the two countries has widened.
The U.S. increase alone of $53.4 billion, the report added, was roughly on par with Britain's entire defense budget.
The increased U.S. spending came as the country "is simultaneously reducing its financial assistance to allies' defence budgets," Beraud-Sudreau added.
Among the factors the report linked to the environment of uncertainty are the collapse of the Cold War-era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, the unclear fate of the New START treaty, the Islamic State (ISIS), and the ongoing war in Yemen.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
2019 saw the biggest increase in global military spending in a decade, according to data published Friday, which also showed the United States ramping up war expenditures under President Donald Trump.
The findings are from The Military Balance 2020, the latest annual assessment from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) formally launched at the Munich Security Conference.
According to the report, which measures over 170 countries, global defense spending rose 4% in 2019 compared to 2018 amid "an unstable international security environment."
The U.S. continued to claim top spot in military expenditures, spending $638 billion in 2019. China was the second biggest spender at $185 billion. Both countries' spending grew 6.6% compared to the prior year.
But, "the trajectory of the two states' defense spending is diverging," wrote Lucie Beraud-Sudreau, IISS research fellow for Defence Economics and Procurement, in a related blog post. "The budget increase in the U.S. was the largest in 10 years, and spending has increased year-on-year since U.S. President Donald Trump took office. While spending is still rising in China, the pace of growth is decelerating." As a result, the spending gap between the two countries has widened.
The U.S. increase alone of $53.4 billion, the report added, was roughly on par with Britain's entire defense budget.
The increased U.S. spending came as the country "is simultaneously reducing its financial assistance to allies' defence budgets," Beraud-Sudreau added.
Among the factors the report linked to the environment of uncertainty are the collapse of the Cold War-era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, the unclear fate of the New START treaty, the Islamic State (ISIS), and the ongoing war in Yemen.
2019 saw the biggest increase in global military spending in a decade, according to data published Friday, which also showed the United States ramping up war expenditures under President Donald Trump.
The findings are from The Military Balance 2020, the latest annual assessment from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) formally launched at the Munich Security Conference.
According to the report, which measures over 170 countries, global defense spending rose 4% in 2019 compared to 2018 amid "an unstable international security environment."
The U.S. continued to claim top spot in military expenditures, spending $638 billion in 2019. China was the second biggest spender at $185 billion. Both countries' spending grew 6.6% compared to the prior year.
But, "the trajectory of the two states' defense spending is diverging," wrote Lucie Beraud-Sudreau, IISS research fellow for Defence Economics and Procurement, in a related blog post. "The budget increase in the U.S. was the largest in 10 years, and spending has increased year-on-year since U.S. President Donald Trump took office. While spending is still rising in China, the pace of growth is decelerating." As a result, the spending gap between the two countries has widened.
The U.S. increase alone of $53.4 billion, the report added, was roughly on par with Britain's entire defense budget.
The increased U.S. spending came as the country "is simultaneously reducing its financial assistance to allies' defence budgets," Beraud-Sudreau added.
Among the factors the report linked to the environment of uncertainty are the collapse of the Cold War-era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, the unclear fate of the New START treaty, the Islamic State (ISIS), and the ongoing war in Yemen.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.