In 2023, a U.S. general noted that many years of military spending cuts in the UK had affected its war-fighting capabilities. Are there lessons other countries can learn from the UK in terms of budgeting for defense?
In 2023, a U.S. general noted that many years of military spending cuts in the UK had affected its war-fighting capabilities. The identical concerns concerning the state of the British forces were also flagged by the then-head of the U.S. army in 2015.
Cuts in military spending aren’t unique to the U.K. For many years, military spending worldwide has decreased as a result of many years of “peace dividends” after the top of World War II.
Even defense spending within the U.S., as a percentage of its economic output, is at historic lows, from around 9% of its GDP in 1960 to three.5% in 2021.
In between recessions and rising cost pressures to fund social spending, military budgets were easy targets for cuts. But when economies recovered, military budgets didn’t increase in tandem.
An evaluation of military spending since World War II noted that “military budgets require more time to get better from an economic downturn than to learn from economic growth.”
Since Russian troops poured into Ukraine, and China has asserted itself more forcefully in Asia, European countries have announced a ramp up of their military spending.
Are there lessons other countries can learn from the UK in terms of budgeting for defense?
Watch the video above to learn concerning the aspects affecting defense budgets and why military spending is rising so slowly.
