The amount the United States spends on its military and other defense related budget items amounts to nearly 40 percent of the global total, according to a new graphic published by the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation on Thursday.
The world spend $1.56 trillion on defense in 2013, with the U.S and its allies making up a large majority of those expenditures:
The U.S. spent just over $600 billion in 2013, which includes the war in Afghanistan and the Department of Energy’s nuclear budget. That was six times more than what China spent, with Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom rounding out the top five.
Most strikingly, the United States continues to spend more that at least the next 12 countries combined, many of which are U.S. allies:
CAP experts Lawrence Korb, Max Hoffman and Kate Blakeley on Thursday released a report explaining the fiscal year 2015 defense budget, noting that while DOD has made “smart choices” on spending that enhance U.S. security, “its program for the FY 2016–2019 period will not meet the challenges of the current national security environment because it incorrectly assumes defense spending will return to the record high levels that characterized the decade after 9/11 and therefore risks triggering another sequester.” The authors make a series of recommendations for reducing spending while maintaing U.S. military capabilities and enhance U.S. security.