Global Military Spending Reached All-Time High of $2.24 Trillion in 2022 |
The record spending calculated by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) shows “we are living in an increasingly insecure world,” a senior SIPRI researcher said. The region with the sharpest rise in spending was Europe, where defense spending jumped 13 percent last year. While Russia and Ukraine contributed the bulk of that surge, Central and West European military expenditures reached their highest levels in real terms since the Cold War.
SIPRI noted significant spending boosts in countries elsewhere, including increases of 4.2 percent in China, 6 percent in India, 5.9 percent in Japan, and 16 percent in Saudi Arabia. The biggest spender was the United States, with expenditures of $877 billion, three times the amount from the second-biggest, China. In a sign that global military expenditures could continue to rise, Australia today unveiled what it called the biggest overhaul (CNN) of its military preparedness since World War II.
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“As attention is focused on great-power rivalry between America, Russia and China, conflicts in the rest of the world are getting worse,” the Economist writes. “Climate change is fuelling fights over water and land. Religious extremism is spreading. Organized criminals are making the world’s most unstable states even more so.”
“The frightening gap between global challenges and the world’s responses, the increased prospects for major-power wars in Europe and the Indo-Pacific, and the growing potential for Iran to cause instability in the Middle East have come together to produce the most dangerous moment since World War II,” CFR President Richard Haass writes in Foreign Affairs.
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South Korea Restores Japan to List of Preferred Trade Partners |
The move is part of a string of efforts (Yonhap) to improve bilateral relations. South Korea had removed Japan from the list in 2019 during a dispute over compensation for Japan’s actions during its colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. |
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Ex–UN Chief Visits Myanmar |
Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon traveled to Myanmar (AP) yesterday on behalf of the Elders, a group of senior political figures who engage in global peacemaking and human rights initiatives. Outside efforts to mediate peace in Myanmar following the country’s 2021 coup have so far been unsuccessful.
Afghanistan: The self-declared Islamic State is again using Afghanistan to coordinate plans (WaPo) for attacks across Asia and Europe, according to leaked U.S. military documents that were posted to the social platform Discord in recent weeks. |
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Middle East and North Africa |
Syrians Protest Arab Countries’ Rapprochement With Assad |
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Ethiopian Prime Minister Announces Peace Talks With Rebels in Oromia |
The Oromo Liberation Army rebel group, from the Oromia region, has fought the Ethiopian government (Reuters) intermittently in the past few decades. They have clashed on a separate front from the government’s recent war with rebels in the Tigray region.
Sudan: Countries including the United States, France, and the United Kingdom have begun to evacuate diplomats (NYT) from Sudan after failing to mediate a deadly conflict between two Sudanese generals.
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Beijing Walks Back Diplomat’s Statement on Ex-Soviet States |
After China’s ambassador to France said in a televised interview that former Soviet states don’t have sovereignty under international law, foreign ministers from several European Union (EU) countries demanded a clarification (Reuters) of the statement. China’s foreign ministry said today that China respects ex-Soviet states as sovereign nations.
Belgium: Envoys from nine EU countries are in Belgium for a summit on renewable power (RFI) that aims to increase wind energy generation in the North Sea. This In Brief discusses how EU countries are finding alternatives to Russian energy in the wake of the war in Ukraine. |
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Former Peruvian President Returns Home to Face Corruption Charges |
Former President Alejandro Toledo was jailed (AFP) yesterday after arriving in Peru from the United States. He is accused of receiving money from a Brazilian construction company in return for public works contracts.
Brazil: Authorities have detained (AP) some three hundred adults and minors from across the country who are accused of inciting hate speech or school violence. The crackdown follows a series of attacks at schools over the past year.
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U.S. Asks South Korean Chipmakers to Cooperate With Its China Policy |
Washington is urging South Korea’s semiconductor companies not to fill a market gap in China if Beijing bans U.S.-based Micron from selling its chips there, the Financial Times reported. A Chinese security review of Micron is currently underway. Some officials in Seoul have expressed concerns that South Korean firms could be hurt by U.S. export controls on China.
CFR’s Scott A. Snyder looks at the future of the U.S.-South Korea alliance. |
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Council on Foreign Relations |
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