Daily Times

There is no hope in sight that the unquenchable thirst for arms will abate. In fact, the worldwide arms trade remains remarkably buoyant. In 2014, the global shopping spree garnered over $ 25 billion for major arms exporters led by the US, Russia and China. The coveted weapon systems are submarines, jet fighters, missiles, armoured vehicles, drones and helicopters. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), global military expenditures in 2014 were $ 1.776 trillion with the US remaining the leading spender with $ 581 billion.
Another fundamental reality about global military expenditures is that the centre of gravity is moving away from the Americas towards the Middle East and Asia. Countries in the region are arming themselves at an alarming rate. The list of the top 15 countries with the highest military expenditures today includes India, China, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. According to SIPRI, India topped the list of weapons importers and accounted for some 15 percent of worldwide arms imports from 2010 to 2014. Five of the 10 biggest arms importers in this period include China (five percent), Pakistan (four percent), South Korea (three percent) and Singapore (three percent).
Obviously, as long as arms exporters are willing to meet the demand, hopes for any slowing of the flow of the world’s arms are dim. But the global armament industry thrives at the cost of moral and social responsibility. States have become incapable of thinking beyond military solutions to social problems. The world spends roughly 60 times as much equipping each soldier today as it does educating each child. Often the cost of arms to poorer countries far exceeds what they receive in civilian foreign aid from the exporting countries.
Ironically, it was the former US General/President Dwight D Eisenhower (whose country has by far the largest military budget in the world), who likened arms spending to stealing from the people: “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. The world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its labourers, the genius of its scientists and the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.”
Importantly, defence expenditure has been a major issue and an ongoing concern in the developing world, in particular in South Asia. This area, home to 1.62 billion people, is the poorest, the most illiterate, the most malnourished, the least gender-sensitive and the most deprived region in the world. The challenges to human security are evident from the dismal statistics relating to illiteracy, population growth, infant mortality, unsafe sanitation and women’s empowerment in this region; they highlight the people’s lack of access to food, shelter, clean drinking water, basic health and educational facilities. The economic realities of this region abound in contradictions, fueling various forms of social unrest and extremism. On the one hand, more and more billionaires are emerging from this region. On the other, millions are starving or leading miserable lives.
Yet major South Asian economies have significant military expenditures, both as a share of GDP and share of overall government expenditure. In 2014, India and Pakistan spent a staggering $ 38 billion and $ eight billion on defence respectively. Regional rivalries and security threat perceptions, India/China and Pakistan/India, play a significant role in fuelling the arms race. Arms exporters of the world rejoice in the fact that India and Pakistan cannot manufacture the cutting edge weapons that their leaders insist upon to inflict maximum damage to the adversary.
Despite the huge defence outlay, political insurgencies, fragile democratic institutions, fundamentalism, terrorism and ethnic conflicts all continue to threaten regional peace and prosperity. Increased levels of military spending have not made South Asia a safer place to live. The greater the levels of militarisation in the region, the more likely it is that countries will go to war with each other, as countless experts have pointed out. Indeed, priority must be to address the problem of underdevelopment and achieve the goal of social welfare. Trying to resolve social problems through military means will only exacerbate the problems.
The arms race in South Asia feeds off historical animosities and emotional nationalism, which makes the situation worse. The constant saber-rattling and inflammatory rhetoric used by illiterate militarists and political opportunists are given endless airtime even though their discourse is immersed in the blight of militarism, war and violence. Sending mixed signals about war and peace is a grave mistake. Furthermore, something that does not get mentioned often enough is the complete lack of interest in arms control among countries in the region. Regrettably, it seems, that unless better sense prevails in the corridors of power we will continue to witness the acquisition of military might at the expense of human development.

The writer can be reached at shgcci@gmail.com