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Arms Race Hampers Overall Development
Khilendra
Basnyat
In recent times, military expenditure has
risen to such mammoth proportions that even if a small percentage of it is used
for agricultural development this will fulfill the basic needs of some
percentage of the people of least developed countries.
The expenditure on armaments of just half
a day of the world, for example, would be sufficient to finance the malaria
eradication program of the World Health Organization. Likewise, purchasing a
military tank would make it possible to provide storage facilities to preserve
41,000 tons of food grains a year which is sufficient to feed a million people
for nearly two years.
According to a previous report of the
Independent Commission of Disarmament and Security, the global military
expenditure in modern times is estimated to be more than US $650 billion per
annum. This amount is higher than the total income of 1,500 million people
residing in the 50 poorest countries of the world. These figures testify to the
fact that the arms race, if not checked, will move the world closer to the
ultimate disaster of nuclear war. The Stockholm International Peace Research
Institute has also indicated that unless there is a drastic cutback in the huge
military spending human beings will be dangerously heading towards economic
doom.
Although governments may profess concern
about private arms smugglers and 'rogue' suppliers such as insurgent groups or
drug traffickers, they themselves are by far the most important sources of
those weapons.
The growing trend of increasing budget on
arms has also hampered the overall development of developing and least
developed countries. The reason is that many donor countries supporting high
rates of military expenditure have been averse to providing economic assistance
of the level of 0.7 percent of their GNP, the agreed target for aid.