STOCKHOLM INTERNATIONAL PEACE RESEARCH INSTITUTE Global Military Spending and the War in Ukraine
The session 'Global Military Spending and the War in Ukraine' was organized by SIPRI at the 2022 Stockholm Security Conference 'Battlefields of the Future: Trends of Conflict and Warfare in the 21st Century Effects and Impact of the War in Ukraine'. #SthlmSecCon
After Russia invaded Ukraine, several European countries announced increases to coming military budgets. The war is likely to accelerate an ongoing upward trend in global military spending; in April, SIPRI estimated global military spending to reach $2.1 trillion in 2021, an all-time high.
The war in Ukraine also casts a shadow over recent efforts to revive discussions on reducing military spending. In 2020, the Report of the United Nations Secretary-General on Women, Peace and Security' set out the ambitious goal of reversing the upward trajectory in global military spending to buttress human security. The following year's report elaborated on this goal, pointing out that military spending grew even mid pandemic.
These reports show that military spending is back at the forefront of disarmament efforts. The reports also reconnect a long-neglected link: the link between disarmament and development. This link is enshrined in the UN Charter but, as the Securing Our Common Future' agenda has observed, the development agenda has overlooked disarmament in recent decades.
Notwithstanding the challenges the war in Ukraine brings forth, its effects on the disarmament agenda are not foreordained. The conflict may hamper efforts to curb rising global military spending, but it may also serve as a catalyst for disarmament initiatives. This session discuss the prospects of curbing global military spending in light of the war in Ukraine. It brings together representatives of UN agencies, government officials and experts on the topic.
Moderator:
Diego Lopes da Silva, Senior Researcher, Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme, SIPRI
Discussants:
Jan Joel Andersson, Senior Analyst, EU Institute for Security Studies
Lucie Béraud-Sudreau, Director, Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme, SIPRI
Maritza Chan Valverde, Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the UN
Adedeji (Ade) Ebo, Director and Deputy to the High Representative, UN Office for Disarmament Affairs