Panelists

• Ravinder Pal Singh, India – Senior Advisor, Control Arms Foundation India
• LisaLinda Natividad, Guam/Palau – Primary Convener, Guahan Coalition for Peace and Justice
• Alfredo ‘Fred’ Lubang, Philippines – Regional Representative, Nonviolence International Southeast Asia and National Coordinator, Philippine Campaign to Ban Landmines
• Mohammad Shoaib Ahmadzai, Afghanistan – Managing Director, Community Development, Rehabilitation and Education Organisation

World military spending has been on the rise in recent years reaching almost 2 Trillion US dollars in 2020 with China, India, Japan, South Korea and Australia registering as some of the highest military spenders in the Asia Pacific. This has been the trend between 2019 to 2020 and over the decade of 2011-2020. As capacities for war continue to grow, so does the collateral damage to people and infrastructure. The proportion of funds going to humanitarian and development aid initiatives focused on the ‘clean up’ in the aftermath of conflict is growing. This has created an illogical paradox of decisions made by States and is a form of collective self-harm. When put into a tangible context, one year of the global military budget equates to 700 years of the UN’s standard budget (RCW). If only this absurd parity of figures was hypothetical however it is very much reality and is showing no sign of reversing. The populations of the Asia region are especially vulnerable to harm from the impacts of expanding militaries and weaponry advancement for many reasons. This webinar aims to take a closer look at what those reasons and help us to understand the status quo of the world we live in as well as the world we want to live in. The webinar’s panel will aim to answer the below questions:

• What does this trend on military spending indicate?
• What are the factors and considerations that bring about these trends, are these trends interrelated ?
• What and how do these factors impact the lives of peoples and the planet?
• Would the resurgence of authoritarian regimes in the Global South or strengthening bilateral security alliances contribute to their further weaponization?
• What are the challenges to the peoples’ movements to affect government policies in bringing down the increasing military spendings and to re-allocating the sums thus saved for promoting genuine peace and social justice? What alternatives should be understood and put to practice that would create meaningful change in the lives of people?