“This,” he warned, “is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.”
In the same way, each intercepted Iranian missile, a brief flare in the night over Jerusalem, is a theft in food, clothing, housing and hospitals from millions in need.
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World leaders call for de-escalation after Iran launches air attack on Israel
World leaders call for de-escalation after Iran launches air attack on Israel
As governments lurch witlessly towards broader armed conflict, communities not only lose lives and livelihoods, productive economies are also soured by a massive diversion towards defence and national security – at the expense of other urgent needs.
While this brings hardship to the broader economy, those populating the defence industrial base (not just in the military forces but defence contractors like Raytheon, Lockheed Martin or Northrop Grumman in the United States, BAE Systems in Britain or Rheinmetall in Germany) have prospered.
As Raytheon head Gregory Hayes noted in an investor briefing last year, there is “lots of good news out there”, adding “it’s just a question of getting it out the door”. Unsurprisingly, the share prices of leading military suppliers have soared.
Unless Poland has discovered some miraculous mechanism to produce money out of thin air, these purchases will come from already-stretched parts of the budget – whether from education, housing, healthcare or funding the investments needed to reduce carbon emissions and stem global warming.
Add up the cost of the 200-300 Iranian drones and missiles hurled at Israel last weekend and the estimated US$50,000 price of each of the hundreds of Tamir interceptor missiles deployed to stop them, and you have a multimillion-dollar bill for one night’s activity alone.
The sad Zeitenwende heralded by the global surge in military spending
The sad Zeitenwende heralded by the global surge in military spending
The US Congressional Research Service says the United States has contributed nearly US$3 billion to operating the Iron Dome, including its batteries, interceptors, co-production costs and general maintenance.
While Israel’s military spending is not recorded, the US gave it US$3 billion in 2022 for “peace and security”, with 99 per cent going directly to the Israel Defence Forces.
Much of our attention is now focused on Ukraine and Palestinians in Gaza but these are not the world’s leading buyers of military equipment. Perhaps surprisingly, the world’s leading importer in recent years is India, with Saudi Arabia and Qatar not far behind. And by far the leading supplier is the US, which SIPRI says accounts for 42 per cent of global weapons exports.
While wars are dreadful, so too is the distraction of attention and hard-pressed funds from fundamentally much more important and pressing needs.
It is a travesty that when many governments are challenged to provide basic services like electricity and clean water, and to rebuild healthcare after the Covid-19 pandemic and badly starved education systems, billions are being diverted to arms production and defence.
Where the resources to tackle climate change and reduce record government debts will come from is hard to foresee. Where is today’s Eisenhower to end this theft?
David Dodwell is CEO of the trade policy and international relations consultancy Strategic Access, focused on developments and challenges facing the Asia-Pacific over the past four decades