🌍 Rising Global Military Spending: Strategic Preparedness or Ethical Dilemma?

In recent years, we have witnessed a sharp surge in global military expenditures. The 2024 SIPRI report highlights a 9.4% increase in global defense spending — the highest year-on-year growth since 1988. NATO members are now pledging to raise their defense budgets to 5% of their GDP by 2035.

At the heart of this trend lie growing global tensions: the Russia-Ukraine war, the Israel-Gaza conflict, and rising geopolitical uncertainties. Major military powers — including the US, China, Russia, Germany, and India — are leading this surge. But what does this mean for the rest of the world? And more importantly, for developing nations like India?

For India, facing persistent border conflicts and the possibility of two-front threats, strategic preparedness is not optional — it's essential. Investment in military infrastructure, modernization, and multi-domain warfare capabilities (including cyber, space, drones, and AI) is a necessary step to ensure national security and geopolitical leverage.

However, this shift comes at a cost.

India recently allocated ₹50,000 crore to replenish military assets post-Operation Sindoor. In contrast, flagship health initiatives like Ayushman Bharat received only ₹7,200 crore. When 2.3% of the GDP is spent on defense and less than 2% on health, are we prioritizing war over welfare?

This raises critical ethical and economic questions:

Are we crowding out essential social spending?

Can we ensure development goals (like SDG targets) while pursuing strategic military goals?

Should developing countries follow the global trend or strike a unique balance?

Furthermore, rising militarization risks reviving Cold War-style arms races, suspicion among neighbors, and the formation of rigid military blocs — threatening global peace architecture.

Yet, it’s not all bleak. Military spending can stimulate the economy through indigenization, defense manufacturing, and employment generation. For India to be a credible leader of the Global South and a net security provider in the Indian Ocean Region, robust defense capability is also vital.

So the debate isn’t military vs. welfare, but balance — of national preparedness with humanitarian commitments.

As professionals and citizens, we must ask:

How do we reimagine security in a world where peace is no longer passive but powered by strength and deterrence?

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