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ISRAEL RANKED AS MOST MILITARIZED NATION
By Jim Lobe
Asia Times
Nov 14 2012
HongKong
WASHINGTON - Israel tops the list of the world's most militarized
nations, according to the latest Global Militarisation Index released
by the Bonn International Centre for Conversion (BICC).
Israel's main regional rival, Iran is far behind at number 34. Indeed,
every other Near Eastern country, with the exceptions of Yemen (37)
and Qatar (43), is more heavily militarized than the Islamic Republic,
according to the Index, whose research is funded by the German Federal
Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Singapore ranks second, followed by Syria, Russia, Jordan, and
Cyprus, according to the Index, which is based on a number of weighted
variables, such as the comparison of a country's military budget with
its gross domestic product (GDP), and the%age of the GDP it spends
on health care.
Six of the top 10 states, including Israel (1), Syria (4), Jordan
(5), Kuwait (7), Bahrain (9), and Saudi Arabia (10) are located in
the Middle East, while yet another of Iran's neighbors, Azerbaijan,
made its first entry into the militarized elite at number 8.
The former Soviet Caucasian state has used its vast oil wealth, which
has placed it among the fastest growing economies in the world, to
buy expensive weapons systems in recent years, apparently as leverage
to press Armenia (23) into returning the disputed Nagorno-Kharabovsk
enclave which Baku lost in a brief but bloody war after the Soviet
Union's collapse.
Bahrain's placement in the top 10 was also a first for the
Sunni-dominated kingdom which has been backed by Saudi Arabia and
the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in an increasingly violent effort to
suppress demands by the Shi'ite majority for democratic reform.
While the Middle East is far more militarized than any other region -
all of its countries rank within the top 40 - Southeast Asia, led by
Singapore, appears ascendant, according to Jan Grebe, the Index's head
researcher who directs BICC's work in the field of arms export control.
In addition to Singapore, China (82) and India (71) are increasing
their defense budgets at a relatively rapid rate, while the recent
flaring of territorial conflicts between Beijing and its neighbors
across the South and East China Seas will likely amplify voices within
those countries for defense build-ups.
"It remains to be seen how this development will affect the degree of
militarization of individual states and the entire region," Grebe said.
In contrast, both sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America are relatively
low on the Index, which covers statistics for 2011 and ranked 135
countries altogether.
At number 30, Angola was a notable African exception, while Chile
(31), Ecuador (36), and Colombia (38) topped the Latin American list.
By contrast, Brazil, which has by far the largest defense budget in
the region, ranked 76.
Among those excluded from the Index was North Korea, whose defense
budget has proved impervious to independent analysts and which is
widely thought to be one of the world's most militarized states,
if not the most. Eritrea, another state that has made it into the
top 10 in the past, also was not included this year.
Created in 1996, the GMI, which has been updated each year, tries
to assess the balance between militarization and human development,
particularly related to health.
In addition to BICC's own research, data published by the Stockholm
Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the International Monetary Fund
(IMF), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Institute for
Strategic Studies are used to compile the Index, whose rankings go
back to 1990 at the end of the Cold War.
In addition to the comparison of military budgets, GDP, and health
expenditures, the Index uses several other variables, including the
total personnel in the paramilitary and military forces - albeit not
the police - and total number of physicians vis-a-vis the overall
population, and the ratio of the number of heavy weapons to the
total population.
Each variable is given a certain score which is then "weighted"
according to a set formula to determine a total quantitative score.
The more militarized a country, the higher the score. South Korea
which, for many years, ranked in the top 10, fell to 18 this year.
Eritrea, which fought a bitter war with Ethiopia and repeatedly
cracked down hard against internal dissent, gained a "perfect" 1,000
score in 2004, the first of a three-year reign atop the list.
But Israel, which has carried out a 45-year occupation of Palestinian
lands and Syrian territory, has topped the list for almost all of
the last 20 years. On the latest Index, its score came to 877, 70
points ahead of Singapore, which has been number two for every year
this century, except for the three in which Eritrea was number one.
Significantly, Greece ranked 14 on the list, the highest of any NATO
country, far ahead of its regional rival, Turkey, which took the 24th
slot, and Bulgaria (25).
The two countries with the world's largest defense budgets, the United
States and China, ranked 29 (591) and 82 (414), respectively.
In addition to the six Middle Eastern states in the top, Oman (11), the
UAE (13), Lebanon (17), Iraq (26), and Egypt (28) were all found to be
more militarized than Iran, which is currently subject to unprecedented
economic sanctions imposed primarily by the West which accuses it of
pursuing a nuclear programme that may have military applications.
The concentration of so many Middle Eastern states at the top
underscores the degree to which the region has become a powder keg.
If the Middle East dominates the top ranks, sub-Saharan African states,
with just a few exceptions, lie at the low end of scale. The region's
biggest economy, South Africa, ranks 98, while its most populous
nation, Nigeria, stands at 117.
Too little militarization carries its own risks, according to Grebe,
because states may not be able to guarantee order or even territorial
integrity.
"This situation points to the seemingly paradoxical phenomenon that
some state security apparatuses are incapable of preventing violence
and conflict simply because the country concerned shows a degree of
militarization which is too low," he said.
Jim Lobe's blog on US foreign policy can be read at
http://www.lobelog.com.
(Inter Press Service)
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NK15Ak02.html
By Jim Lobe
Asia Times
Nov 14 2012
HongKong
WASHINGTON - Israel tops the list of the world's most militarized
nations, according to the latest Global Militarisation Index released
by the Bonn International Centre for Conversion (BICC).
Israel's main regional rival, Iran is far behind at number 34. Indeed,
every other Near Eastern country, with the exceptions of Yemen (37)
and Qatar (43), is more heavily militarized than the Islamic Republic,
according to the Index, whose research is funded by the German Federal
Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Singapore ranks second, followed by Syria, Russia, Jordan, and
Cyprus, according to the Index, which is based on a number of weighted
variables, such as the comparison of a country's military budget with
its gross domestic product (GDP), and the%age of the GDP it spends
on health care.
Six of the top 10 states, including Israel (1), Syria (4), Jordan
(5), Kuwait (7), Bahrain (9), and Saudi Arabia (10) are located in
the Middle East, while yet another of Iran's neighbors, Azerbaijan,
made its first entry into the militarized elite at number 8.
The former Soviet Caucasian state has used its vast oil wealth, which
has placed it among the fastest growing economies in the world, to
buy expensive weapons systems in recent years, apparently as leverage
to press Armenia (23) into returning the disputed Nagorno-Kharabovsk
enclave which Baku lost in a brief but bloody war after the Soviet
Union's collapse.
Bahrain's placement in the top 10 was also a first for the
Sunni-dominated kingdom which has been backed by Saudi Arabia and
the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in an increasingly violent effort to
suppress demands by the Shi'ite majority for democratic reform.
While the Middle East is far more militarized than any other region -
all of its countries rank within the top 40 - Southeast Asia, led by
Singapore, appears ascendant, according to Jan Grebe, the Index's head
researcher who directs BICC's work in the field of arms export control.
In addition to Singapore, China (82) and India (71) are increasing
their defense budgets at a relatively rapid rate, while the recent
flaring of territorial conflicts between Beijing and its neighbors
across the South and East China Seas will likely amplify voices within
those countries for defense build-ups.
"It remains to be seen how this development will affect the degree of
militarization of individual states and the entire region," Grebe said.
In contrast, both sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America are relatively
low on the Index, which covers statistics for 2011 and ranked 135
countries altogether.
At number 30, Angola was a notable African exception, while Chile
(31), Ecuador (36), and Colombia (38) topped the Latin American list.
By contrast, Brazil, which has by far the largest defense budget in
the region, ranked 76.
Among those excluded from the Index was North Korea, whose defense
budget has proved impervious to independent analysts and which is
widely thought to be one of the world's most militarized states,
if not the most. Eritrea, another state that has made it into the
top 10 in the past, also was not included this year.
Created in 1996, the GMI, which has been updated each year, tries
to assess the balance between militarization and human development,
particularly related to health.
In addition to BICC's own research, data published by the Stockholm
Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the International Monetary Fund
(IMF), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Institute for
Strategic Studies are used to compile the Index, whose rankings go
back to 1990 at the end of the Cold War.
In addition to the comparison of military budgets, GDP, and health
expenditures, the Index uses several other variables, including the
total personnel in the paramilitary and military forces - albeit not
the police - and total number of physicians vis-a-vis the overall
population, and the ratio of the number of heavy weapons to the
total population.
Each variable is given a certain score which is then "weighted"
according to a set formula to determine a total quantitative score.
The more militarized a country, the higher the score. South Korea
which, for many years, ranked in the top 10, fell to 18 this year.
Eritrea, which fought a bitter war with Ethiopia and repeatedly
cracked down hard against internal dissent, gained a "perfect" 1,000
score in 2004, the first of a three-year reign atop the list.
But Israel, which has carried out a 45-year occupation of Palestinian
lands and Syrian territory, has topped the list for almost all of
the last 20 years. On the latest Index, its score came to 877, 70
points ahead of Singapore, which has been number two for every year
this century, except for the three in which Eritrea was number one.
Significantly, Greece ranked 14 on the list, the highest of any NATO
country, far ahead of its regional rival, Turkey, which took the 24th
slot, and Bulgaria (25).
The two countries with the world's largest defense budgets, the United
States and China, ranked 29 (591) and 82 (414), respectively.
In addition to the six Middle Eastern states in the top, Oman (11), the
UAE (13), Lebanon (17), Iraq (26), and Egypt (28) were all found to be
more militarized than Iran, which is currently subject to unprecedented
economic sanctions imposed primarily by the West which accuses it of
pursuing a nuclear programme that may have military applications.
The concentration of so many Middle Eastern states at the top
underscores the degree to which the region has become a powder keg.
If the Middle East dominates the top ranks, sub-Saharan African states,
with just a few exceptions, lie at the low end of scale. The region's
biggest economy, South Africa, ranks 98, while its most populous
nation, Nigeria, stands at 117.
Too little militarization carries its own risks, according to Grebe,
because states may not be able to guarantee order or even territorial
integrity.
"This situation points to the seemingly paradoxical phenomenon that
some state security apparatuses are incapable of preventing violence
and conflict simply because the country concerned shows a degree of
militarization which is too low," he said.
Jim Lobe's blog on US foreign policy can be read at
http://www.lobelog.com.
(Inter Press Service)
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NK15Ak02.html