|
| |
Society :
THE WORLD IS OVER-ARMED WHILE ONE BILLION PEOPLE ARE HUNGRY
By Badriya KHAN (*)
|
|
BRUSSELS (EUROLATINNEWS) - The world is over-armed; the world is over-hungry. This is not a new slogan, this is a proven fact showing that the world spends well over 1,6 trillion dollars a year on weapons, while more than one billion people are hungry and record high food prices are causing more hunger and deaths. Just think that one of every six persons on Earth either does not eat at all or is always hungry.
The latest figure gives more than one billion good reasons to disarm the planet. The chances for the current scenario to change are, however, very little, if any.
Why? Because the weapons business is too commercially profitable and politically powerful, much more than governments and logic.
Here are some facts.
The prestigious Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) reported in April 2011 that world military expenditure in 2010 is estimated to have been 1,630 billion dollars, an increase of 1.3 % in real terms in spite of the global financial crisis.
SOUTH AMERICA : THE LARGEST INCREASE IN MILITARY SPENDING
The region with the largest increase in military spending was South America, with a 5.8 per cent increase, reaching a total of 63.3 billion dollars, according to SIPRI new data.
“This continuing increase in South America is surprising given the lack of real military threats to most states and the existence of more pressing social needs”, stated Carina Solmirano, Latin America Expert of the SIPRI Military Expenditure Project.
Part of the explanation for this rise is to be found in the strong economic growth the region has experienced in recent years, while in other regions the effects of the global economic recession caused military spending to fall or at least rise more slowly in 2010.
THE USA, EXCEPTIONAL IN MILITARY SPENDING
Although the rate of increase in USA military spending slowed in 2010 to 2.8 per cent compared to an annual average increase of 7.4 per cent between 2001 and 2009, the global increase in 2010 is almost entirely down to the United States, which accounted for 19.6 billion dollars of the 20.6 billion dollars global increase, according to SIPRI.
“The USA has increased its military spending by 81 per cent since 2001, and now accounts for 43 per cent of the global total, six times its nearest rival China. At 4.8 per cent of GDP, US military spending in 2010 represents the largest economic burden outside the Middle East”, stated Dr Sam Perlo-Freeman, Head of the SIPRI Military Expenditure Project.
In Europe, where military spending fell by 2.8 per cent, governments began to address soaring budget deficits, having previously enacted stimulus packages in 2009. Cuts were particularly substantial in the smaller, more vulnerable economies of Central and Eastern Europe, as well as those with particular budget difficulties such as Greece.
RAPID INCREASE IN ASIA
In Asia, even though most economies did not experience a recession, economic growth slowed down in 2009 while military spending continued to rise rapidly. Thus, the slower increase of 1.4 per cent in military spending in 2010 partly readjusts growth in military spending to economic growth rates.
The Chinese Government, for example, explicitly linked its smaller increase in 2010 to China’s weaker economic performance in 2009.
AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST SPENDING MORE AND MORE
The Middle East spent 111 billion dollars on military expenditure in 2010, an increase of 2.5 per cent over 2009. The largest absolute rise in the region was by Saudi Arabia.
Estimated spending in Africa increased by 5.2 per cent, led by major oil-producers such as Algeria, Angola and Nigeria.
USA COMPANIES, TOP 100 WEAPONS SALES
Companies headquartered in the United States again dominate the top 100 weapons sales companies, it says, followed by West European companies, Russia, Japan, Israel, India, South Korea and Singapore.
“The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq continued to heavily influence sales of military equipment such as armoured vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and helicopters,” SIPRI explains.
This means that over 90 per cent of world’s weapons sales proceed from Western self-proclaimed champions of democracy, freedom and human rights on Earth. These are the very same freedom champions that have been systematically imposing their model on the rest of the world, through so-called freedom wars.
“The world is over-armed, and development is under-funded,” UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon told the 192-member Assembly on April 2010, at the start of the thematic debate on disarmament and world security, and both the role of the UN and challenges for the international community.
“These priorities should be reversed. By accelerating disarmament, we can liberate the resources we need to combat climate change, address food insecurity and achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),” said the secretary general.
In spite of all calls for freeing the world from the permanent threat of weapons of mass destruction, most of them produced and sold by U.S. and western European powers, the inexorable day-to-day realities are systematically ignored.
These realities tell for instance that the over 1,6 trillion dollars the world spends on weapons every single year would be more than enough to save the planet from climate change disasters, mostly caused by major arms manufacturers.
They also reveal that one of every six living persons on Earth, that’s a total of 1002 million people, either do not eat at all or are permanently hungry.
Add to that the impacting fact that only one and half dollars per person and week would be enough to feed all hungry people and eradicate hunger from the face of the Planet Earth.
No more than 44 billion dollars a year are required to feed one billion people who go hungry every year. This is only a fraction of the 1,6 trillion dollars spent on weapons.
RECORD HIGHS IN FOOD PRICES
Human Wrongs Watch reported on August 10th, 2011 on the new drama facing the poorest in the Horn of Africa.
“While politicians in rich countries have been rescuing powerful “market lord” –private corporations and banks that have unleashed the global financial crisis or strongly contributed to it– for the sake of receiving their ‘electoral blessing’, the prices of grain and milk in the drought-hit Horn of Africa have risen to record highs,” it wrote.
These new records are exacerbating famine and hardship for the estimated 12.4 million people in the region who are facing severe food shortages and famine in some parts of Somalia, UN says.
In Somalia, where famine has been declared in five areas in the south-central region, prices of domestically produced staples, sorghum and maize showed some signs of decline last month. The prices of the two commodities were, however, 150 and 200 per cent higher, compared to July last year, according to the FAO report.
Related: http://www.sipri.org
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp
(*) Badriya KHAN, The Human Wrongs Watch
(EUROLATINNEWS)
COPYRIGHT © 2011 Human Wrongs Watch
Copyright:
Este artículo y su contenido no puede ser utilizado sin el consentimiento de
EUROLATINNEWS | |
|
|
