In war games, who wins?

Abstract

In 2002, the world spent about US$794 billion on arms. Although there is good news that as political stability has returned to central and eastern Europe, expenditure there has decreased by 16% over the past decade, two areas have shown huge increases—the Middle East, where spending has risen by 38%, and south Asia, where it has increased by 44%. These figures, which are compiled and analysed by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in their 2003 yearbook, show how the relentless year-on-year rise in military expenditure is linked to cycles of violence across the world.