For a long time, Israel occupied first place in a ranking that compares the military apparatus and civil society of a state. Who will be at the top in 2023?
In the year since the Russian attack, Ukraine has become the most militarized country in the world, according to a study, replacing long-time leader Israel in first place on the global militarization index (GMI). This emerges from the GMI 2023, which was published by the Bonn International Center for Conflict Studies (BICC).
The GMI relates the military apparatus and civil society of a state to one another. To do this, the BICC, for example, weights a state’s military spending and number of soldiers and heavy weapons in relation to gross domestic product (GDP) and other civilian indicators.
The latest available data is included in the GMI – for the current survey this mostly comes from 2022, so the Gaza war is not yet reflected in it. Israel has consistently been at the top of the annual index since 2007.
Increased military spending in Europe
Overall, the number of heavy weapons and armaments have increased worldwide, the study said. However, the level of militarization fell on average because the population or GDP of many countries grew. Military spending in Western and Central Europe increased by 13 percent in 2022. According to the study, this represents the largest increase since the end of the Cold War.
Behind Ukraine and Israel in the GMI’s “Top 10” are three other post-Soviet states: Armenia (3rd place), Azerbaijan (9th place) and Russia (10th place). This points to the high potential for conflict and the changing power and alliance constellations in this area, said study author Markus Bayer.
Russia has significantly increased its military spending from 66 to almost 72 billion US dollars, the study continued. The bottom line is that the level of militarization is low because of the “massive losses of people and material.”
Germany further back
The “Top 10” also includes three Gulf states: Qatar (4th place), Bahrain (5th place) and Saudi Arabia (6th place). In relation to civil society, Greece (7th place) and Singapore (8th place) are also highly militarized. As a “weakly” militarized country, Germany ranks 98th out of 149 countries, behind which there are only two EU states, Luxembourg and Ireland. The USA ranks 25th.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
