Today’s launch of the annual Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) figures on military spending makes chilling reading. SIPRI estimates global military expenditure last year was at least $2,113 billion (US), the first time it has exceeded $2 trillion (US): an average of more than $5.78 billion (US) every day. This represents a 6.1% nominal increase since 2020 (0.7% when adjusted for inflation).
In the UK the military spending increase for 2021 in cash terms was in double digits 1 – passing £50bn for the first time 2. Even adjusted for current rampant inflation and exchange rate change this represents a real terms spending increase of 3% in 2021 despite the continued impact of the pandemic.
As war rages in Ukraine it is clear that this unprecedented spending is not delivering security – on the contrary it is pushing us toward a global catastrophe. SIPRI notes that the invasion of Ukraine has caused an escalation in new spending announcements which will result in a further dramatic increase next year. A comparison of (constant US dollar) spending over time demonstrates that the UK is currently spending more on the military than we were during the Cold War, as part of the NATO alliance we are spending dramatically more (hover over countries below to see full figures)3
The horrific invasion of Ukraine has seen calls from both the right-wing of the Conservative party and the Labour front-bench for rapid increases in UK military spending. We must be clear that such increases will do nothing to help those suffering under Russian bombs. What Ukraine are asking Europe to do is to stop buying the Russian Oil and Gas which is fueling the bombardment, but payments from Europe to Russia are continuing to increase. Germany has just committed an additional €100bn to it's military spending, alongside billions more to subsidise petrol and diesel prices. Imagine that money spent instead on energy efficiency measures to rapidly reduce dependency on Russian gas?
While initially Governments were slow to implement them, the sanctions enforced against Russian oligarchs and real estate abroad represent a model for dealing with the corruption and dissuading human rights abuses. Fossil fuels (like arms) tend to have focused recipients close to power, so targeting these areas is more likely to have a direct impact than generic sanctions against a general population (which elites can normally circumvent). In many ways this follows CAATs proposals for discouraging Saudi human rights abuse in Yemen and should be mirrored there and in conflicts around the world.
There have been some very positive discussions of how citizen action could enable the immediate cutoff of Russia fossil fuels, but this needs to be accompanied by government action to make it truly effective. This type of practical solidarity will do far more to end the war in the short term than more military posturing.
- SIPRI Milex Database “UK Spending in Current USD (millions)” – 2020: $60675.04 vs. 2021: $68366.44 is a 12.7% increase.
- SIPRI Milex Database “Local Currency Financial Year £50,277,575,930)
- Note: These are figures are from SIPRI’s database of ‘constant dollar’ figures, which convert all figures to a ‘2020 USD constant value’ to enable comparison over time – they are therefore different to the current USD figures discussed elsewhere.
