I was in a deep conversation this past weekend with two republicans who felt there is no way America can afford to cut back on military spending, I beg to differ. One thing I like to do is research such topics and below is some pretty interesting information.
America has 11 aircraft carriers. No other country has more than one. We could probably go another 40 years without spending and still be way ahead of any other country, yet NONE of this kind of information is provided by the Main Stream Media.
Now I'm sure there will be some of you who will harshly argue my belief here but take a good hard look at what America spends verses any other country around the world. I believe the numbers provided as well as additional links at the bottom will blow you away.
This list is based on the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Military Expenditure Database for 2010 (in constant 2009 US$). It also includes military expenditure data as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2009.
Rank Country Military expenditure, 2010 % of GDP, 2009
1 United States 687,105,000,000 4.7%
2 People's Republic of China 114,300,000,000 2.2%
3 France 61,285,000,000 2.5%
4 United Kingdom 57,424,000,000 2.7%
5 Russia 52,586,000,000 4.3%
6 Japan 51,420,000,000 1.0%
7 Germany 46,848,000,000 1.4%
8 Saudi Arabia 42,917,000,000 11.2%
9 Italy 38,198,000,000 1.8%
10 India 34,816,000,000 2.8%
11 Brazil 28,096,000,000 1.6%
12 South Korea 24,270,000,000 2.9%
13 Canada 20,164,000,000 1.5%
14 Australia 19,799,000,000 1.9%
15 Spain 15,803,000,000 1.1%
16 United Arab Emirates 15,749,000,000 7.3%
17 Turkey 15,634,000,000 2.7%
18 Israel 13,001,000,000 6.3%
19 Netherlands 11,604,000,000 1.5%
20 Greece 9,369,000,000 3.2%
21 Colombia 9,191,000,000 3.7%
22 Republic of China (Taiwan) 8,535,000,000 2.4%
23 Poland 8,380,000,000 1.8%
24 Singapore 7,651,000,000 4.3%
25 Iran 7,044,000,000b 1.8%b
26 Norway 6,322,000,000 1.6%
27 Chile 6,198,000,000 3.5%
28 Indonesia 6,009,000,000 0.9%
29 Algeria 5,586,000,000 3.8%
30 Belgium 5,382,000,000 1.2%
31 Sweden 5,248,000,000 1.2%
32 Portugal 5,213,000,000 2.1%
33 Pakistan 5,160,000,000 2.8%
34 Mexico 4,859,000,000 0.5%
35 Iraq 4,663,000,000 5.4%
36 Denmark 4,588,000,000 1.4%
37 Switzerland 4,392,000,000 0.8%
38 Thailand 4,336,000,000 1.9%
39 Kuwait 4,411,000,000 4.4%
40 Oman 4,047,000,000 9.7%
41 Egypt 3,914,000,000 2.1%
42 Angola 3,774,000,000 4.2%
43 South Africa 3,735,000,000 1.3%
44 Finland 3,718,000,000 1.5%
45 Austria 3,446,000,000 0.9%
46 Ukraine 3,442,000,000 2.9%
47 Malaysia 3,259,000,000 2.0%
48 Morocco 3,256,000,000 3.4%
49 Argentina 3,179,000,000 1.0%
50 Venezuela 3,106,000,000 1.3%
51 Czech Republic 2,529,000,000 1.4%
52 Vietnam 2,410,000,000 2.5%
53 Syria 2,236,000,000 4.0%
54 Romania 2,164,000,000 1.4%
55 Peru 1,992,000,000 1.4%
56 Sudan 1,991,000,000c 3.4%c
57 Nigeria 1,724,000,000 0.9%
58 Lebanon 1,564,000,000 4.1%
59 Philippines 1,486,000,000 0.8%
60 Azerbaijan 1,421,000,000 3.4%
61 Jordan 1,363,000,000 6.1%
62 New Zealand 1,358,000,000 1.2%
63 Ireland 1,354,000,000 0.6%
64 Hungary 1,323,000,000 1.1%
65 Sri Lanka 1,280,000,000 3.5%
66 Kazakhstan 1,227,000,000 1.2%
67 Yemen 1,222,000,000b 3.9%b
68 Bangladesh 1,137,000,000 1.0%
69 Libya 1,100,000,000b 1.2%b
70 Croatia 1,060,000,000 1.8%
71 Slovakia 1,010,000,000 1.4%
72 Serbia 920,000,000 2.3%
73 Slovenia 788,000,000 1.6%
74 Bahrain 731,000,000 3.7%
75 Belarus 726,000,000 1.4%
76 Bulgaria 698,000,000 2.0%
77 Kenya 594,000,000 2.0%
78 Tunisia 548,000,000 1.3%
79 Cyprus 510,000,000 1.8%
80 Uruguay 491,000,000 1.6%
81 Eritrea 469,000,000d 20.9%d
82 Georgia 452,000,000 5.6%
83 Lithuania 427,000,000 1.4%
84 Armenia 404,000,000 4.2%
85 Cameroon 368,000,000 1.6%
86 Côte d'Ivoire 353,000,000b 1.5%
87 Botswana 352,000,000 3.0%
88 Ethiopia 338,000,000 1.0%
89 Estonia 336,000,000 2.3%
90 Namibia 329,000,000 3.7%
91 Brunei 327,000,000 3.1%
92 Dominican Republic 322,000,000 0.7%
93 Bolivia 314,000,000 2.0%
94 Luxembourg 301,000,000a 0.6%
95 Uganda 276,000,000 1.8%
96 Latvia 268,000,000 1.4%
97 Afghanistan 250,000,000j 1.8%
98 Zambia 243,000,000 1.7%
99 Chad 242,000,000 6.2%
100 Honduras 235,000,000 1.5%
101 Turkmenistan 233,000,000e 2.9%e
102 Bosnia and Herzegovina 232,000,000 1.3%
103 Tanzania 217,000,000j 1.1%
104 Senegal 207,000,000 1.6%
104 Nepal 207,000,000 2.0%
106 Albania 201,000,000 2.1%
107 Cambodia 191,000,000j 1.1%
108 Mali 183,000,000 1.9%
109 Kyrgyzstan 167,000,000j 3.6%
110 Congo, Democratic Republic of the 163,000,000 1.0%
111 Guatemala 161,000,000 0.4%
112 Panama 146,000,000e 1.0%e
112 Paraguay 146,000,000 0.9%
114 Republic of Macedonia 145,000,000 1.7%
115 Burkina Faso 140,000,000 1.2%
116 Congo, Republic of the 133,000,000 1.1%b
116 El Salvador 133,000,000 0.7%
118 Ghana 115,000,000 0.7%
118 Mauritania 115,000,000j 3.8%
120 Swaziland 102,000,000 3.1%
121 Guinea 99,900,000f 2.2%f
122 Jamaica 95,200,000 0.9%
123 Zimbabwe 93,800,000 1.9%c
124 Mozambique 86,300,000 0.9%
125 Rwanda 77,200,000 1.4%
126 Uzbekistan 70,100,000d 0.5%d
127 Benin 65,600,000b 1.0%b
128 Malta 58,800,000 0.7%
129 Madagascar 55,700,000 0.8%
130 Tajikistan 55,400,000f 2.2%f
131 Togo 55,100,000b 1.7%b
132 Central African Republic 52,900,000 1.8%
133 Fiji 50,200,000j 1.7%
134 Niger 49,200,000 0.5%b
135 Malawi 48,600,000a 1.2%a
136 Mongolia 47,400,000 1.0%
137 Burundi 46,900,000b 3.8%
138 Lesotho 45,600,000j 2.8%j
139 Nicaragua 44,100,000 0.7%
140 Sierra Leone 42,900,000b 2.4%
141 Papua New Guinea 39,100,000 0.5%
142 Djibouti 36,900,000b 3.7%b
143 Moldova 19,000,000 0.5%
144 Laos 18,400,000j 0.3%
145 Guinea-Bissau 15,700,000g 2.1%g
146 Belize 14,900,000 1.2%
147 Mauritius 14,000,000b 0.2%b
148 Iceland 9,900,000j 0.1%
149 Cape Verde 8,800,000 0.5%
150 Guyana 8,100,000h 0.8%h
151 Liberia 7,200,000j 0.8%
152 Seychelles 6,600,000 1.2%
153 Gambia, The 4,600,000a 0.6%a
999 zz 9e50 999
The following is a table of the top 15 countries with the highest military expenditure for 2010 published in the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Yearbook 2011 using current market exchange rates in current (2010) US dollars.
Rank Country 2010 Spending ($ b.) Share of 2010 GDP (%) World Share (%)
— World Total 1 630 2.6 100
1 United States 698 4.8 43
2 Chinaa 119 2.1 7.3
3 United Kingdom 59.6 2.7 3.7
4 France 59.3 2.3 3.6
5 Russiaa 58.7 4.0 3.5
6 Japan 54.5 1.0 3.3
7 Germanya 45.2 1.3 2.8
7 Saudi Arabiab 45.2 10.4 2.8
9 India 41.3 2.7 2.5
10 Italya 37.0 1.8 2.3
11 Brazil 33.5 1.6 2.1
12 South Korea 27.6 2.8 1.7
13 Australia 24.0 2.0 1.5
14 Canadaa 22.8 1.5 1.4
15 Turkeya 17.5 2.4 1.1
Arms industry
List of countries by military expenditures per capita
List of countries by level of military equipment
List of countries by number of troops
Military budget
Military budget of the United States
List of countries without armed forces
Number of warships in service worldwide
Military of the European Union
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
This does not even mention the obscene amount of money spent by local and state government mercenary enforcer paramilitary groups like SPD, OCPD, WCSD....
ReplyDeleteAin't nobody calling Zambia or Lesotho to intervene or bring freedom to Iraq, Kuwait, Vietnam, Afghanistan, & (soon) Iran. No one calls Botswana or Kenya to help when third world countries (and even countries like Japan) need hospitals (like the ones on aircraft carriers) for victims of earthquakes, tsunamis, and hurricanes. Ron Paul is right. We don't need to protect Europe, or Japan, or Saudia Arabia, or Korea. They have money and resources. Bring our men and money back here and tighten up the southern border. Protect AMERICAN citizens for a change....and if anyone dares to cross us (attack us), erase them from the map. Completely and without mercy. They'll get the message quickly. Of course, what will we do with a million well-trained men and women who are used to fighting for "freedom" when they come home and see "freedom" being wholeheartedly and unabashedly ripped from our hands??? Just sayin' --could be a problem...
ReplyDeleteYou forget we have the best defense in the world and is the main deterrent for not being invaded that's why they decided to attack us from within IE: Democrats.
ReplyDelete3:37p - Do you really believe that 35% of your fellow Americans are your enemy? We're talking about 105,000,000 people, give or take a million.
ReplyDeleteDo you realize how sick and twisted that sounds?
Not sure what you're talking about, You are comparing our military spending to other countries, we have a superior fighting force and the point was were the best because we can afford to be the best or at least we could until Democrats destroyed the economy.
ReplyDeleteThe U.S. military provides security for many of our allies and neighbors so you're comparing apples to oranges.
ReplyDeleteThe list title says it is listed by %GDP, but it's actually sorted by $$$. Just look at #8, Saudi Arabia, which spends 11.2% of its GDP compared to our 4.7%.
ReplyDeleteAgain Imclain is correct. There is a big difference between Military spending and Defense Spending. I have no problem with spending what we need to spend on defensive necessities. I do have a problem taxing the citizens of this nation to defend every other nation on the face of the earth. Nor can we continue to invade every other nation in the name of the "War on Terror" or "Speading Democacy". What a crock of horse sh*t. We have things here that need to be taken care of. Let's get our priorities straight here. Ron Paul is the only real choice.
ReplyDeleteWe learned a lot from the rise and fall of the third Reich, If you sit back hoping someone else does something and allow someone like Hitler to go unchecked you have a world war. We need to watch out for our interest around the world.The last time we cut defense Clinton cut the Pentagon's budget and 9/11 happened as a direct result of intelligence failure.
ReplyDeleteNon-sense. 9/11 happened because some evil haters planned a terrible attack on our country. You can't know everything or be everywhere. If the good innocent people on those planes were permitted by an over reaching govt. to be armed in order to defend themselves, 9/11 wouldn't have happened. To highlight my point, I'll repeat a quote I heard somewhere...“If every German Jew and anti-Nazi had possessed a Mauser rifle, twenty rounds and the will to use it, Adolf Hitler would be a footnote to the history of the Weimar Republic.” The government has taken on a responsibility it cannot handle. And one that belongs to the people of individual nations.
ReplyDelete