By the year 2016, it is possible that Asia could spend more on military expenditures than the United States. The primary spending will be from China and India who are set to make vast upgrades in their militaries. In the year 2016, Military spending in Asia will be roughly 32 percent (480 Billion) of total global spending. In just the next five years, India is planning to spend 100 billion dollars in military upgrades.
My first thought is that this is absolutely amazing that China and India will be increasing military budgets in a time of such economic uncertainty and hardship. My second thought is that we need to keep our military advancements one step in front of India and China. If we fail to maintain our military power, we will lose our economic advantage. Military power and economic affluence are symbiotic. The nations with healthy economic systems tend to have advanced militaries. History teaches us that Military leaders have had more opportunities for economic gain. Many of those opportunities were immoral but it is still a reality.
According to experts, Asian economies will be growing in the coming years. Most notably China will likely come out from this recession as a global economic leader. The report stated that India will become one of the largest importers of weapons and technology systems in the world.
Does anyone else see it as a potential problem that we are downgrading our weapons spending when other nations are planning for record spending? Could we get left behind if we don’t keep up with military spending?
