Emmanuel Macron has just announced that the military budget for the country’s armies will increase from €295 billion to €413 billion over the next few years.
Even taking inflation into account, this increase is significant. Like the Japanese Prime Minister, who announced a few days ago that Japan’s military budget would double by 2027, the French President is invoking the lessons of the war in Ukraine and the new threats to justify his new military budget. Macron also set a goal for his forces to be “a war ahead” of the enemy.
1. Which are the militarily strongest countries?
The answer to this question is not obvious. In terms of military spending, the order is as follows (in 2022 in US dollars per year): US 801 billion, China 297 billion, India 77 billion, UK 68 billion, Russia 66 billion and France 57 billion. But military budgets are misleading. Not all countries are transparent about disclosing their military budgets. Then the salaries are not the same everywhere. For example, an American officer is better paid than a Chinese officer. In addition, conventional armaments are no match for nuclear armaments. After all, being powerful on paper doesn’t mean having a really strong army. Before World War II, the theoretically strongest army was the French army. It lasted only three weeks against Adolf Hitler’s troops.
2. What are the lessons of the war in Ukraine?
Class isn’t over yet. But a few important things stand out. First, information in this area plays a key role, and the Russian army is lagging behind in this area. In addition, decentralization of leadership is essential. Too much centralization of decisions, as is the case on the Russian side, leads to the loss of opportunities. After all, speed and flexibility in conducting military action are more important than ever.
3. What are the new threats?
The biggest threat comes from Russia. The Russian defense minister has just announced another significant increase in Russian troops and a modernization of the army. It is not clear if he will achieve his goals. But the former member states of the Soviet Union can only shudder at such an announcement. In addition, China’s role remains ambivalent. More than ever, the country has an ambition to surpass the military might of the United States. What will China do with this new power? It seems unlikely that it will be limited to defensive activities.
4. What does the phrase “having a war in advance” mean?
The “War of Advance” refers to the military revolution carried out by the Americans in the 1980s: thanks to satellites and means of communication, the United States was able to dominate the enemy, as the war in Yugoslavia had shown This. It is probably this type of military advance that Macron is referring to. In addition, the war in Ukraine shows once again that superiority in armaments can be decisive.
5. How does this relate to Canada?
Canada has no choice but to join the arms race. Its military spending is about $20 billion, which ranks it 14th in the world. Unfortunately, more money for the army also means less money for health, education and many other areas. Thank you Vladimir
