Dear MEL
Topic Readers,
Russia is now
the world's third largest military spender
US and China
combined accounted for nearly a half of the global military spending in 2016,
according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. And the countries
in the second group are; Russia, Saudi Arabia, India and France.
To compare
government spending on a certain field, such as social security, education or
military service, there are several factors need to be adjusted; currency
exchange rate, GDP per capita, the ratio to the total spending or GDP, and most
importantly, what are included and how they are counted in the spending, in
other words, transparency and accountability.
But one
figure that is relatively dependable is the change from the previous year. And
in 2016, Russia boosted its military spending by nearly six percent. That
sounds quite substantial considering the oil prices and domestic economy of the
country.
Is it just to
update its aging equipment or to upgrade the force for new initiatives?
By the way,
the estimated total military spending in 2016 was 1.69 trillion dollars.
Enjoy reading
and thinking if military spending improves security or provokes conflicts.
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