Firepower

$1,739 B Global military spend was $1,739 billion in 2017. That’s $230 per head for everyone in the world.1

$1 M The UN budget for preventative diplomacy is set at little over $1 million.2

Up 10% Major arms sales increased by 10 per cent in 2013-17 compared to 2008-12.3

Up 38% Civilian casualties made up 74 per cent of the 43,000 people killed or injured by explosives in 2017, a 38-per-cent increase compared to 2016.4

8 M An estimated 8 million small arms and up to 15 billion rounds of ammunition are manufactured worldwide each year. Light weapons accounted for 35-60 per cent of all of deaths and injuries in warfare since 1990.5,6

14,465 Between them, the world’s nine nuclear powers possess 14,465 nuclear warheads – enough to wipe out the whole of humanity.7,8

The Big Guns

34% The US continues to be the world’s number 1 arms exporter, delivering major weapons to at least 98 states in 2013-17, and exporting around a third of all arms.3

50% The Middle East region is the US’s biggest customer, accounting for almost half of all US exports 2013-17.3

Digital Warfare

Weaponized Social Media The UN accuses Facebook of spreading hate speech, which spiked during brutal attacks on the Rohingya in Myanmar.13

Armed Drones The number of countries using armed drones such as the Predator or Reaper has quadrupled.15

Illicit Arms By Email 3-D printing and additive manufacturing have the potential to produce any physical object based on technical data that can be shared digitally.16

Big Data Psy-ops A growing portion of the US military’s $50 billion budget is now being spent on private companies specializing in data analysis and online influence.17

  1. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), nin.tl/GlobalMilitarySpend
  2. IPS News, May 2018, nin.tl/UNDiplomacy
  3. SIPRI, nin.tl/ArmsTransferTrends2017
  4. Action on Armed Violence, nin.tl/ExplosiveViolenceMonitor2018
  5. Amnesty, nin.tl/KillerFacts2016
  6. Saferworld, nin.tl/ImpactSmallArms
  7. SIPRI, nin.tl/NuclearWeapons2018
  8. ICRC, nin.tl/NuclearImpactFoodProduction
  9. See SIPRI Arms Transfers Database for full definition of SIPRI Trend Indicator Values, sipri.org/databases/armstransfers
  10. World Peace Foundation, nin.tl/CorruptArmsDeals
  11. OpenSecrets.org, nin.tl/LobbyDatabaseBAE
  12. inews 4 March 2018, nin.tl/HospitalityBill
  13. The Guardian, 13 March 2018, nin.tl/UNBlamesFacebook
  14. Analysis by Ray Serrato @raymserrato
  15. Drone Wars UK, nin.tl/NextGeneration
  16. SIPRI, nin.tl/EmergingTechChallenges2018
  17. The New York Review of Books, 21 March 2018, nin.tl/DigitalMilitaryIndustrialComplex