{{Global military spending dipped last year for the first time since 1998 as defense outlays shrank in the West but rose in Russia, China and the Middle East, a Swedish-based arms watchdog said Monday.}}<\/p>\n
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said the world spent $1.75 trillion on its armed forces in 2012, down 0.5 percent from the year before.<\/p>\n
The fall, driven by spending cuts in the U.S. and other NATO nations, was partially offset by increases elsewhere. Military spending rose by 7.8 percent in China and by 16 % in Russia, while Oman’s 51-percent boost was the biggest percentage increase in the world, SIPRI said.<\/p>\n
“We are seeing what may be the beginning of a shift in the balance of world military spending from the rich Western countries to emerging regions,” SIPRI researcher Sam Perlo-Freeman said in a statement. <\/p>\n
The drop in the West was linked to austerity policies and the drawdown in Afghanistan, he added.<\/p>\n
SIPRI’s report showed the U.S. remains way ahead of all other countries, accounting for 39 percent of global military spending in 2012.<\/p>\n
But it was the first time the U.S. share of global military spending dropped below 40 percent since the Cold War, the institute said.<\/p>\n
“The U.S. of course is still far and away the No. 1, but the ratio between the U.S. and China has gone down from 7-1 a few years ago to 4-1 in 2012,” Perlo-Freeman told Press.<\/p>\n
He stressed that the gap was larger when it comes to actual capabilities, noting that the U.S. has 11 aircraft carriers while China has one.<\/p>\n
“It takes time for changes in military spending to translate into sustained changes in military capabilities,” Perlo-Freeman said.<\/p>\n
SIPRI gave no dollar figures for spending by countries including Iran, Syria and North Korea, citing a lack of transparency and uncertainties regarding currency exchange rates.<\/p>\n
AP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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