A new report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) says global defense spending last year saw its steepest rise since the end of the Cold War.
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00:00Wars, rising tensions and the world on edge. 2024 saw the steepest jump in defense spending
00:11in over three decades. Global defense spending rose by a staggering 9.4 percent according to
00:17the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. More than 100 countries boosted
00:22their military budget. The Institute's researcher Xiaoliang says this rise in defense spending is
00:28unprecedented. It was the highest year-on-year increase since the end of the Cold War and we
00:34also saw like spending increased in all regions in the world so it was really a global across the board
00:40trend. In Europe the war in Ukraine was a clear impetus. European leaders have called for dramatically
00:47increasing defense spending. Fears over the future U.S. commitment to NATO under Donald Trump also
00:53played a role. If Europe is to survive it must be armed. It is not our choice. I am not a militarist.
01:00Even before President Trump's return to power his skepticism towards alliances had already pushed
01:07European nations to ramp up arms production and strategic independence. In 2024 military spending
01:14in Europe including Russia went up by 17 percent to 693 billion U.S. dollars. This was the greatest
01:22contributor to global increase. So European countries were already trying to boost their strategic autonomy
01:30and self-reliance in arms production before Trump's election. In the Middle East Israel's invasion of Gaza and
01:39Lebanon fueled another sharp rise in defense budgets. Yet for much of that region a larger arm race has been delayed for now.
01:48Future spending may hinge on fragile peace deals holding up. In Asia China remained the world's second largest
01:56military spender after the U.S. In 2024 China's military budget was 314 billion U.S. dollars adjusted for inflation.
02:05That's nearly eight times what it was in 2004. Now several countries in the Indo-Pacific including Japan, India and the Philippines are responding to China's military build-up by increasing their defense expenditure.
02:18Record military spending might buy security but it comes as a cost. Around the world countries are diverting money from schools, hospitals, social welfare and climate action to fuel a new arms race.
02:31The more nations spend to arm themselves, the more fragile peace becomes. And a new era characterized by suspicion and mistrust between rival powers, beacons.
02:42Lee Sin Chen and Adelbrar for Taiwan Plus.