A presentation  at the United Nations North Lawn building presented statistics gathered by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) about spending on armaments and militarism. The report declared that in 2013 over 1,747 billion dollars were spent on armaments. SIPRI Director Sam Perlo Freeman pointed out that the overwhelming majority of military spending was being done by the US and its allies.

While military spending by the United States has slightly decreased, spending by strategic US aligned regimes around the world is dramatically rising. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which is a key US ally in the Middle East and a backer of insurgent groups in Syria, has increased its military spending by 14.8%, the largest increase of any country on earth. John Feffer of Institute for Policy Studies, one of the presenters, told Press TV, that the build-up of military spending by US aligned regimes around the world has dangerous implications and could lead to war. Presenters pointed out that military spending is rising most rapidly in the Middle East and the Pacific, and that despite recent cuts, the United States remains the main exporter of weapons and supplier of military aid. See video here.

The 15 countries with the highest military expenditure in 2013, click the Map to be taken to an interactive web page of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Information from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.