4.1 Defense we all still need it

The total global defense expenditure currently amounts to a figure around U.S.$700 billion and could reach one trillion dollars before year 2020 unless some totally unexpected new trend sets in that enables either significant decreases or else substantial increases in defense capabilities.

The approximate defense expenditure of NATO is shown on an annual basis in Figure 4.1. In most years NATO s expenditure contributes around 70% of the global total. The 1990 1993 rise corresponded to the Gulf War in 1991 and subsequent restocking. The 1999 increase is explained by the Yugoslavian War, and the year 2000 drop in expenditure is explained by the anticipated recession driven by the Y2K challenge concerning microprocessors. After the year 2000, expenditures resume the overall inexorable steady increase.

Figure 4.1 Total defense spent by NATO countries.

Most NATO countries are within the G8 group of advanced industrial nations, and their defense technologies are therefore also relatively advanced. As a consequence, much of the defense hardware and software is also advanced. The United States alone accounts for 41% to 42% of total NATO defense expenditure.

During the 1980s, the Falklands War and Iran/Iraq apart, it was almost excusable for anyone to think that after two highly destructive world wars, followed by conflicts such as Korea and Vietnam, a great world peace was well on the way. Then, of course, there came the realization that Iraq was amassing arsenals of terrible weapons, including biological, chemical, and nuclear. First the dictator...