2024-02-13T14:26:05+00:00
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/ The International Institute for Strategic Studies, which specializes in defense issues, warned on Tuesday that the current decade is the most dangerous for the world, attributing this to the wars that broke out between several countries and the increase in spending on military arsenals.
The Military Balance report issued by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies indicated that the world entered a “highly volatile security environment” last year, with Azerbaijan’s victory over Armenian separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh and coups in Niger and Gabon, and this is set to continue, according to Agence France-Presse.
The report stated that “the current situation in the field of military security portends what will likely be a more dangerous decade characterized by a noticeable resort by some to the use of military force to achieve their demands (…) in addition to the desire of democratic systems that share the same values, to “strengthen bilateral and multilateral relations in defense affairs in the face of this situation.”
Nearly two years after Russia invaded Ukraine, the International Institute for Strategic Studies estimated that Moscow’s army had lost about 3,000 battle tanks, or the entire operational reserve it had until February 2022. It has since made up for its losses by relying mainly on its stock of vehicles that were not in service at the time, and has been forced to prioritize quantity over quality.
On the other hand, Kiev has so far been able to compensate for the losses in its equipment thanks to high-quality Western equipment. The Ukrainian army has also shown particular “ingenuity” in the Black Sea using sea drones.
Rising military spending
Overall, world military spending rose by 9% last year to $2.2 trillion (€2.0 trillion), an unprecedented figure according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, which expects a further increase this year.
The institute attributes this phenomenon mainly to the war in Ukraine and tensions with China. It notes that NATO members, with the exception of the United States, are concerned.
The report was published as former US President Donald Trump, who is seeking re-election in November 2024, raised the possibility of stopping defending NATO countries that are reluctant to invest in their defence, which led to severe criticism.
According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, only 10 of NATO’s 31 member states have met NATO’s target of allocating 2% of GDP to military spending, but 19 of them have increased spending.
The report revealed that Russia and China now allocate more than 30% of their public spending to the military sector, while Westerners are “slowly” increasing the production of missiles and ammunition after years of underinvestment in this field.
In addition to investments in new technologies, interest has returned to “neglected equipment such as artillery and air defense systems” and to modernizing both the Chinese and American nuclear arsenals.
China and Iran
Beijing is continuing its policy of modernizing its strategic forces and transforming its military into an “intervention force” capable of deploying far from its borders, strengthening the defensive alliances of anxious neighboring countries.
The report notes that “China is asserting itself more and more, not only in its immediate surroundings,” citing Chinese balloons flying even in American airspace, ships deployed around the world, or diplomatic efforts in some distant conflicts.
The IISS also said Iran was increasingly influential in several conflict zones, with two examples: delivering missiles to Yemen’s Houthi rebels whose attacks in the Red Sea are disrupting global trade, and supplying Russia with drones in its war on Ukraine.