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REPORT: ARMENIA MORE MILITARIZED THAN RUSSIA
EurasiaNet.org
Dec 12 2014
December 12, 2014 - 11:03am, by Giorgi Lomsadze
Armenia ranks third after Israel and Singapore as the world's most
militarized country relative to population and economy-size, according
to a report released this week by a German-government-financed
think-tank, the Bonn International Center for Conversion.
The Center's Global Militarisation Index 2014 claims that the
small Caucasus country of just under three million is the European
continent's most militarized nation. It measures militarization as the
"weight of [a] military apparatus" "in relation to its society as a
whole" -- a standard that puts Armenia, given its small population,
relatively weak economy and strong security concerns, at a potential
statistical disadvantage.
Locked in a bitter land dispute with neighbor Azerbaijan over breakaway
Nagorno Karabakh, Armenia spent $247 million on arms purchases in
2013. Its next-door arch-nemesis, oil-and-gas power Azerbaijan,
has far outspent Armenia, forking out $3.4 billion on defense last
year. But because of its larger economy (nearly eight times the size
of Armenia's) and more than threefold larger population, Azerbaijan
landed in tenth place.
In terms of the volume and sophistication of its military gear,
Azerbaijan may also be far in the lead, but Armenia has 17.9 soldiers
and paramilitaries per 1,000 inhabitants, while Azerbaijan has 8.9,
the report found.
Russia, with an economy and population that dwarf both Armenia and
Azerbaijan, finished in fifth place, after Syria.
The study did not apparently take into account the effect of military
alliances with other countries. Russia, which sells arms to both
Armenia and Azerbaijan, has its only base in the South Caucasus in
the northern Armenian town of Gyumri.
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/71326
From: A. Papazian
EurasiaNet.org
Dec 12 2014
December 12, 2014 - 11:03am, by Giorgi Lomsadze
Armenia ranks third after Israel and Singapore as the world's most
militarized country relative to population and economy-size, according
to a report released this week by a German-government-financed
think-tank, the Bonn International Center for Conversion.
The Center's Global Militarisation Index 2014 claims that the
small Caucasus country of just under three million is the European
continent's most militarized nation. It measures militarization as the
"weight of [a] military apparatus" "in relation to its society as a
whole" -- a standard that puts Armenia, given its small population,
relatively weak economy and strong security concerns, at a potential
statistical disadvantage.
Locked in a bitter land dispute with neighbor Azerbaijan over breakaway
Nagorno Karabakh, Armenia spent $247 million on arms purchases in
2013. Its next-door arch-nemesis, oil-and-gas power Azerbaijan,
has far outspent Armenia, forking out $3.4 billion on defense last
year. But because of its larger economy (nearly eight times the size
of Armenia's) and more than threefold larger population, Azerbaijan
landed in tenth place.
In terms of the volume and sophistication of its military gear,
Azerbaijan may also be far in the lead, but Armenia has 17.9 soldiers
and paramilitaries per 1,000 inhabitants, while Azerbaijan has 8.9,
the report found.
Russia, with an economy and population that dwarf both Armenia and
Azerbaijan, finished in fifth place, after Syria.
The study did not apparently take into account the effect of military
alliances with other countries. Russia, which sells arms to both
Armenia and Azerbaijan, has its only base in the South Caucasus in
the northern Armenian town of Gyumri.
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/71326
From: A. Papazian