What’s fuelling the rise in global military expenditure?

A report says global military spending reached nearly $2 trillion last year, despite the global pandemic.

Some may think governments facing a global pandemic will not be tempted to spend much on buying weapons.

But, despite the economic effects of COVID-19, military spending reached nearly $2 trillion last year.

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That is according to a report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

It is an increase of 2.6 percent from 2019.

The researchers have cautioned the trend might not be maintained for the second year of the pandemic.

So, what are the ramifications of this unprecedented military spending spree?

Presenter: Peter Dobbie

Guests:

Nan Tian – Senior researcher with the SIPRI Arms and Military Expenditure Programme and one of the report’s authors

David DesRoches – Associate professor and senior military fellow at National Defense University in Washington, DC

Graham Ong-Webb – Adjunct research fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

By Inside Story