The war between Israel and Hamas, the conflict in Ukraine and tensions around China and Iran herald “a more dangerous decade” in the world. This was warned this Tuesday by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in the 2024 edition of its military balance.
This specialized defense institute based in London issues a report every year in which it evaluates the military forces in the world, including their equipment or personnel, as well as the defense economy of more than 170 countries.
In its 2024 report, IISS notes that the world entered “a highly volatile security environment” last year on account of “the fighting between Israel and Hamas, the reappearance of the Houthi missile threat, the growing tensions in the Indo-Pacific and the Arctic or the turmoil in sub-Saharan Africa.”
The organization also cites Azerbaijan's victory against the Armenian separatists in Nagorno Karabakh or the coups in Niger and Gabon among the situations that led the world to a dangerous decade.
He also mentions the war between Russia and Ukraine, which is approaching its third year with no apparent signs of de-escalation. or the advance of Moscow's military actions that have led countries like Japan or South Korea to seek increasingly powerful military alliances.
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The war between Russia and Ukraine is one of the situations that has led the world into a highly volatile security environment.
Sergey Dolzhenko. EFE
The organization believes that this situation of instability will last and that, in response, the world will need increasingly stronger bilateral and multilateral defense ties.
“The current military security situation portends what will likely be a more dangerous decade, characterized by the blatant application by some of military power to pursue grievances (evoking a “might is right” approach), the document states.
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Added to this, the report analyzes, is “the desire among democracies that share the same values, to strengthen bilateral and multilateral ties in defense matters, as a response to this situation.”
According to the report, Global tensions have led to a significant increase in disbursements for the defense sector.
“Governments from Canberra to Washington and Oslo have also realized that their ammunition stocks have fallen too low and the ability to replenish them needs to be improved,” the analysis reads.
![NATO](https://www.eltiempo.com/files/article_content_new/uploads/2023/07/12/64aeb6467199b.jpeg)
G7 leaders and President Volodimir Zelensky, at the NATO summit in Lithuania.
Overall, world military spending increased 9 percent last year, reaching $2.2 billion, a record high, according to the IISS. which expects a new increase this year. According to the report, the money has mostly been allocated to address the lack of investment in the defense sector in previous years.
The organization explains the phenomenon of increased military spending mainly due to the war in Ukraine and tensions with China.
In NATO alone, military spending has increased by 32 percent since 2014, when Russia invaded the Crimean peninsula.
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The report also notes that Russia and China now devote more than 30 percent of their public spending to the military sector, while the West is “slowly” increasing its missile and ammunition production after years of underinvestment.
Washington, according to the Institute, “continues to spend the most overall, at 40 percent of global defense spending.”
According to the IISS, furthermore, Only 10 of NATO's 31 member countries are meeting the alliance's goal of dedicating 10 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to military spending, although 19 have increased it.
What happened in the war in Ukraine?
The Institute's report dedicates significant space to analyzing the case of the Ukraine conflict, almost two years after its beginning.
The IISS estimates that the Russian army lost about 3,000 tanks, its entire operational reserves, in February 2022. According to the study, Russia compensated for its losses by drawing on its stock of vehicles that were not in service at the time and was thus forced to favor quantity over quality.
On the other hand, Ukraine has so far been able to compensate for its losses in military equipment thanks to Western aid, gaining in quality.
The Ukrainian military, according to the report, has also shown “ingenuity”, particularly in the Black Sea with the use of marine drones.
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![Putin](https://www.eltiempo.com/files/article_content_new/uploads/2024/01/29/65b7d36d25024.png)
Russia has turned to Iran and North Korea to increase arms supplies.
According to the report, the war in Ukraine has highlighted the importance of equipping the sides. Russia, for example, has turned to Iran and North Korea to increase weapons supplies, which have fallen short due to the current pace of battlefield operations.
The West has also had to face a lack of ammunition and weapons to provide Ukraine with the necessary equipment. “Western governments have now recognized that they allowed the capabilities to equip their armed forces to erode to a dangerous level, and that more funding and greater attention to industrial strategies are needed,” the document reads.
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The report also refers to China and assures that Beijing continues its policy of modernizing its strategic forces and transforming its army into a “projection force” capable of intervening far from its borders.
The IISS also points out that Iran is increasingly present in several conflict zones, as demonstrated by the sending of missiles to the Yemeni Houthi rebels, whose attacks in the Red Sea are disrupting global trade, as well as the supply of drones to Russia. to fight against Ukraine.
INTERNATIONAL EDITORIAL
*With AFP
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