Analysis

“The Defense Budget Bogeyman”, by Sean Morgan

The Defense Budget Bogeyman by Sean Morgan is an good introduction to understanding the USA's defense budget in an intrenational context. The graph featured and below highlights market exchange rate and military PPP differences.

USA’s Spending less dominant as China and Russia are ramping up – The Economist

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

Power From the People: India, China and the Implications of Population Size

China-India Brief #220, February 15, 2023 - March 02, 2023, Centre on Asia and Globalisation, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy by Peter Robertson The remarkable fact about both China and India’s large populations is that they have meant so little for so long. By April 2023, India is predicted to overtake China as … Continue reading Power From the People: India, China and the Implications of Population Size

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.