"No more wars! No more wars! No more wars! " A few days ago, thousands of anti-war activists in the United States held a rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, shouting in unison. Protesters demanded that the United States stop inciting the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, promote peace talks between the two sides, dissolve the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and cut US military spending. The picture shows a protester holding a slogan to attend a rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Jieshe
Recently, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in Sweden released a statistical report on global military expenditure data in 2022. According to the report, in terms of actual purchasing power, global military spending maintained growth for the eighth consecutive year in 2022, an increase of 3.7% over 2021, and the total expenditure reached 2.24 trillion US dollars.
"The continuous growth of global military expenditure in recent years shows that we live in an increasingly unsafe world." Tian Nan, a senior researcher at SIPRI, pointed out that in order to cope with the deteriorating security environment, many countries in the world are strengthening their military strength, and this situation is not expected to improve in a short time.
Global military spending growth has entered an accelerated period.
SIPRI report shows that in 2022, the actual US military expenditure reached 877 billion US dollars, accounting for 39% of the total global military expenditure. Europe’s military expenditure reached US$ 480 billion, up 13% year-on-year, which was the largest increase in the world, surpassing the level at the end of the Cold War in 1989 for the first time.
In 2023, from America to Europe and Asia, many countries accelerated the growth of military expenditure. According to public data, in fiscal year 2023, the US defense budget reached US$ 857.9 billion, an increase of nearly 14% compared with US$ 753 billion in 2022. The British defense budget is 50 billion pounds, an increase of 17%; The French defense budget is $48.7 billion, an increase of 7.4% over 2022; Japan’s annual defense budget has increased to about 6.8 trillion yen, which is 1.26 times of the original budget in 2022; India’s defense budget has risen to 5.94 trillion rupees, 13% higher than the previous preliminary estimate & hellip; …
With the global military spending increasing year after year, the military trade market has also warmed up. According to the "Top 100 Global Defense Companies in 2022" published by the US National Defense News Network, the ranking of world military enterprises in 2022 shows that the total defense income of the top 100 companies on the list is 595 billion US dollars, an increase of 44 billion US dollars over 2021, with an annual growth rate of nearly 8%. In terms of geographical distribution, a total of 46 companies in the United States were shortlisted in the list of the top 100 global military enterprises, and defense revenue accounted for 53% of the total list. Eight companies in the UK, five companies in France and three companies in Germany were shortlisted.
The Associated Press reported that scranton Army Ammunition Factory, located in Pennsylvania, USA, is working overtime to produce 155mm caliber howitzers, and is also investing in new production lines. The Financial Times reported that US Deputy Secretary of the Army Gaby Camarri Lowe said in March this year that the Army is spending about 1.5 billion US dollars to increase ammunition production; By 2028, the production capacity of 155 mm artillery shells in the United States will increase from 14,000 rounds per month before the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict to more than 85,000 rounds per month. "Nihon Keizai Shimbun" reported that after the Cold War, Germany has been reducing the number of tanks, and now it has begun to increase production again.
Zou Zhibo, deputy director of the Institute of World Economics and Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and director of the National Global Strategic Think Tank, told this reporter that the global military spending growth has entered an accelerated period, and more and more countries have participated in the wave of military purchases. With the support of sufficient military expenditure, countries with relatively backward military strength have greatly increased their demand for advanced weapons, while countries with strong military strength have increased their research and development of advanced weapons and equipment, and have continuously put advanced weapons into use and foreign trade.
Insecurity is everywhere.
"The global military spending has increased year after year, reflecting some new changes in the global security situation." Guo Xiaobing, director of the Arms Control Research Center of the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, pointed out in an interview with this reporter that the world is not peaceful: First, the trend of accelerated camp is more obvious. Stimulated by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, NATO regained its vitality and adopted a series of measures to rally. At the same time, the United States is also striving to transform the hub-and-spoke alliance system in the Indo-Pacific region into a network-based alliance system, trying to create "India is too small for NATO"; Second, the confrontational side in the relations between major powers is more obvious. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine is essentially a confrontation and indirect confrontation between Russia and NATO system; Third, there has been a major shift in Japan’s defense policy. At the end of last year, three security policy documents, including the National Security Strategy, were launched, which greatly increased military spending and developed non-nuclear strategic offensive forces such as missiles. This means that Japan will essentially break through the principle of "defending exclusively" and may once again awaken the ghost of the source of the "Great East Asian War".
In February this year, the Munich Security Report 2023, released before the 59th Munich Security Conference, emphasized that the world has entered a crucial decade of international order adjustment. According to the Munich Safety Index released at the same time, the world has entered a new stage where insecurity is everywhere.
The United States still maintains the position of the first place in military expenditure with absolute advantage. Zou Zhibo pointed out that behind the scale of military expenditure and military strength is the support of national scientific and technological level and economic strength. The huge military expenditure of the United States shows that the United States still has great advantages in strength. At present, in order to maintain its global hegemony, although the economy is facing the risk of recession, the US military expenditure continues to set a new record. This also exposes the side of the United States that ignores the economy and people’s livelihood and is militaristic.
"In 2022, Europe became the region with the largest increase in global military spending, mainly due to the overall escalation of the Ukrainian crisis." Zou Zhibo analyzed that "India, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Japan’s entry into the top 10 military expenditures is related to seeking the status of a big country and occupying a favorable strategic position in the new geographical pattern."
"The growth of global military spending has entered an accelerated period, which is closely related to the new changes in the current international security situation." Zou Zhibo believes that, first, the country represented by the United States has entered a period of strategic adventure, and in order to maintain its hegemonic position, it will not hesitate to provoke confrontation among major powers; Second, the game between big countries is unprecedentedly fierce, and the contest between old and new forces is developing in the direction of competition and confrontation; Third, the fierce confrontation between big countries has seriously impacted the regional and even global security situation, and the insecurity of relevant countries and regions has risen sharply, making it an inevitable choice to strengthen arms construction.
Complex, changeable and turbulent special period
Zou Zhibo pointed out that global arms control and competition are two sides of the same body, which is the "pointer" to the state of world peace and security. When the world is in a relatively peaceful period, arms control has become the mainstream, which is the reason why international arms control has made rapid and significant progress after the end of the Cold War in the 1990s. In recent years, the international security situation has entered a downward state, global military spending has increased rapidly, and the arms race has intensified.
"At present, global military spending has entered a period of acceleration, especially the sustained and rapid growth of military spending by big countries, which may lead to an arms race among big countries and even the risk of war among big countries. In addition, the increasing global military expenditure will inevitably further increase the burden on countries, making the weak recovery of the world economy ‘ Make matters worse ’ 。” Zou Zhibo said. On May 2, the International Monetary Fund issued a report saying that 2023 will be a challenging year for the global economy. Due to the tightening of monetary policy and the continued pressure on economic activities caused by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, global economic growth will slow down. The New York Times said that the Russian-Ukrainian military conflict is undermining the economic growth in Europe, sowing the seeds of anxiety, and putting European government resources under greater pressure than the United States and other countries and regions.
"Global military spending has maintained growth for eight consecutive years and will continue to grow in the future. This reflects the grim situation that the global arms race is escalating, the strategic competition and confrontation of big countries continue to heat up, and the global security situation is more complicated and tense. " Zou Zhibo said: at present, the world is facing a great change that has never happened in a century, and the international security situation has entered a special period of complexity, changeability and turbulence.
"In recent years, while resolutely defending its core interests, China has made extensive efforts to persuade peace and promote talks, put forward global security initiatives, promoted reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and worked hard to turn storms into gentle winds and drizzles, and turned division and confrontation into harmony and symbiosis, making its own unique contribution to safeguarding world peace and stability." Guo Xiaobing said.
April 21st this year marks the first anniversary of the global security initiative put forward by the Supreme Leader. Wang Wenbin, spokesman of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that China is the initiator of the Global Security Initiative, and it is also the activist to implement this major initiative. China adheres to the common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security concept, and has carried out in-depth exchanges of security concepts and policies with all parties to promote the common security. China is willing to work with all parties to uphold the concept of security community, adhere to true multilateralism, work together to meet various traditional and non-traditional security challenges, and jointly promote the lofty cause of peaceful development of mankind.
