The Economist's Data team analyse world military spending trends In dollar terms America spends more on its armed forces than the next ten countries combined. But when comparing military budgets, nominal values can only say so much. Read Article here
The Russian Defence Budget
A good summary of the measurement issues faced when sizing up Rusia's overall defennce stregth, published in the UK Defence Journal by J. Vitor Tossini "According to the most recent estimates using market exchange rates, the British defence budget surpassed Russia’s in 2020 and continued to grow faster than the Russian in 2021. However, a … Continue reading The Russian Defence Budget
Russian Ballet in the Indo Pacific
The Russia-Ukraine war has several obvious lessons for China and India. It shows that overwhelming military firepower is no insurance against humiliation, that security guarantees can be of little value, and that conventional war can escalate despite the threat of nuclear weapons.
Bang for the Buck: The military gap between Russia and Ukraine is vast. But not as wide as it may appear.
As Russia continues to wage war in Ukraine, the fighting has not been as one-sided as might have been expected. Despite being outgunned and outnumbered, Ukraine inflicted more casualties in 24 hours than Russia suffered over eight years of engagements in Syria.
Is China too big to be resisted?
This week former prime minister Paul Keating scoffed at the Morrison government’s new AUKUS alliance and nuclear submarine deal, noting that China is the world’s largest economy and so Australia’s eight nuclear submarines are “like throwing toothpicks against a mountain”.
China’s Military might is much closer to the US than you probably think
If you watched China’s impressive military parade marking the 70th anniversary of Communist Party rule, you may be wondering how China now compares to the United States in terms of military might. The answer: it’s a lot closer than commonly thought.
