ABSTRACT
Global military spending rose by 35 percent from 1997 to 2007 and at over $1.1 trillion a year is now close to the level at the height of the Cold War in the 1980s. At the start of the 1990s, with the Cold War over, many countries achieved a major redirection of resources into the civilian economy. Following small increases at the end of the 1990s, US military spending accelerated dramatically after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and with the invasion and occupation of Iraq. The USA now dominates world military spending to an unprecedented degree.
