NATO countries have agreed a statement ahead of their upcoming summit that sets a target of increasing annual defence and security spending to 5% of GDP by 2035, overcoming opposition from Spain.
Isn’t 5% a lot? IIRC even the US aren’t that high. And what are we supposed to use all those soldiers and weapons for? Surely that’s overkill, even for Russia? Is this actually about China?
Edit: It’s 3.5% on the military and 1.5% on dual use infrastructure like roads, for a total of 5%. That’s high but quite a bit more sane.
The US is at about 3%, which is an insane amount a lot of which gets allocated to random domestic pork-barrel projects, or basic scientific research which is just getting funneled through the “defense” department for basically no reason. Upping it to more than the US spends per capita on its military is bonkers.
That being said, I get it. These are bonkers times. Russia is doing for-real military invasions and bombing whole cities and shows no signs of wanting to stop, and the US is no longer a reliable partner for defense and deterrence. It might be fine, but it might not. It’s time to get ready to look after our own safety again, after a long period of not really having to worry as long as you were white and Western. I get why they’re doing it.
The UK in 1985 was being run by people who grew up getting their cities bombed out and not having enough to eat because of the war, or having friends and family members dead because they were in the infantry and didn’t come back.
I posted a chart elsewhere in these comments; all during the modern era it’s been hovering around 1.5%, and then suddenly in the last few years people are invested in paying more, what with the US and Russia collaborating to make them nervous about their safety again.
So, you’re right that higher NATO spending is bad for the US. That’s why historically they haven’t pushed for it.
But now the US is im the grip of nepo baby morons that have no understanding of anything. They think army guys & bombs are le hecking epic & that’s the extent of the reasoning. See also: like every hereditary monarch ever.
European democracies obviously do understand the long term implications which is why they’re taking the opportunity to arm up.
Until the USA goes full dictatorship (admittedly less hypothetical than I’d like)
I have bad news for you.
I’m not trying to exaggerate the situation, but they’re imprisoning journalists, kicking random people out of the country or keeping them in conditions so bad that it sometimes kills them, they just bombed a random country ignoring the system that’s supposed to make that illegal without authorization, and so on and so on. They just assassinated a Democratic politician.
It’s all a spectrum. People are still in the streets without being shot, they’re still backing down or being forced to free some particular people. But the standard of “going to war without authorization” is a guard-rail that fell years ago, and more are falling every week now. If you’re waiting for the moment to fight back against the dictatorship, this is it.
Isn’t 5% a lot? IIRC even the US aren’t that high. And what are we supposed to use all those soldiers and weapons for? Surely that’s overkill, even for Russia? Is this actually about China?
Edit: It’s 3.5% on the military and 1.5% on dual use infrastructure like roads, for a total of 5%. That’s high but quite a bit more sane.
Watch us get in a war and see where that percentage goes, along with inflation.
5% is, in fact, a whole shitload.
The US is at about 3%, which is an insane amount a lot of which gets allocated to random domestic pork-barrel projects, or basic scientific research which is just getting funneled through the “defense” department for basically no reason. Upping it to more than the US spends per capita on its military is bonkers.
That being said, I get it. These are bonkers times. Russia is doing for-real military invasions and bombing whole cities and shows no signs of wanting to stop, and the US is no longer a reliable partner for defense and deterrence. It might be fine, but it might not. It’s time to get ready to look after our own safety again, after a long period of not really having to worry as long as you were white and Western. I get why they’re doing it.
5% is about what the UK spent up to 1985. It was 7% in 1960.
France spent 3% in 85, and 5% in the 60s, but they count “defence spending” differently.
The UK in 1985 was being run by people who grew up getting their cities bombed out and not having enough to eat because of the war, or having friends and family members dead because they were in the infantry and didn’t come back.
I posted a chart elsewhere in these comments; all during the modern era it’s been hovering around 1.5%, and then suddenly in the last few years people are invested in paying more, what with the US and Russia collaborating to make them nervous about their safety again.
It’s about war with the US. Well, probably other places too. Writing’s been on the wall for a while.
Until the USA goes full dictatorship (admittedly less hypothetical than I’d like) that’s not going to happen. Democracies don’t fight like this.
Also the US is who is pushing hardest for higher NATO defence spending. So that makes no sense.
So, you’re right that higher NATO spending is bad for the US. That’s why historically they haven’t pushed for it. But now the US is im the grip of nepo baby morons that have no understanding of anything. They think army guys & bombs are le hecking epic & that’s the extent of the reasoning. See also: like every hereditary monarch ever.
European democracies obviously do understand the long term implications which is why they’re taking the opportunity to arm up.
I have bad news for you.
I’m not trying to exaggerate the situation, but they’re imprisoning journalists, kicking random people out of the country or keeping them in conditions so bad that it sometimes kills them, they just bombed a random country ignoring the system that’s supposed to make that illegal without authorization, and so on and so on. They just assassinated a Democratic politician.
It’s all a spectrum. People are still in the streets without being shot, they’re still backing down or being forced to free some particular people. But the standard of “going to war without authorization” is a guard-rail that fell years ago, and more are falling every week now. If you’re waiting for the moment to fight back against the dictatorship, this is it.