New challenges to global peace

As president of Costa Rica from 1986 to 1990, I witnessed first-hand the tremendous burden which arms and excessive military spending impose on the welfare of people in the developing world. The civil wars in Central America, which were exacerbated and prolonged by the militarism of the Cold War superpowers left a profound wound in our societies which has not healed to this day. Like many others, I hoped that with the end of the Cold War the terror of conventional weapons ‘guns, tanks, mines’ would fade along with the threat of nuclear holocaust. But it was not to be.

Instead, global militarism is once again on the rise. In 2002, the rate of increase in military spending was double that of 2001, and overall 14% higher than in the post-cold war low of 1998. High-income countries account for three quarters of that expenditure, but military budgets impose a greater burden on developing countries, or more precisely, on the poorest people in those countries. In countries such as Pakistan, Myanmar, Burundi and Eritrea, military spending exceeds that of health and education combined. Such budgetary priorities underlie a grotesque irony: many of the poorest states hoard supplies of tanks and weapons to ‘defend’ citizens who are far more threatened by malnutrition and preventable diseases.

The global arms trade is no longer driven by the political demands of the East-West conflict, but largely by economic motives alone. Underground and independent dealers flourish in the absence of effective international arms control standards. In brief, since the end of the Cold War the arms trade has grown enormously, and now has a stronger presence in the developing world than ever before.

Since the arms trade is a global problem, every nation shares responsibility for its pernicious effects. Currently, almost 80% of all weapons transfers originate in the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. Is there not a terrible irony in linking security to large shipments of weapons, most of which will eventually serve criminals and totalitarian regimes? Of the US$29 billion in conventional weapons that were sold last year, nearly two thirds went to governments in the developing world. Why are leaders of the hungriest people still buying guns? And why do leaders of the wealthiest people continue to supply them?

Small and poor nations, which have the greatest stake in curbing the onslaught of militarism, must recognize that when states can resist the pressure to pour their treasure into armaments, they are able to offer remarkable dividends to their people. Take the example of Costa Rica, a developing country which abolished its standing army in 1949. Enjoying a remarkable degree of political stability and an ample peace dividend, the Costa Rican government has been able to devote almost a quarter of the national budget to education. Moreover, the quality of health care in Costa Rica is very high, and life expectancies are comparable to those in the United States or Europe.

While not a viable option for some, spending less on defense would greatly benefit many developing countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where there is simply no justification for military spending in the face of such abject poverty. Indeed, some African nations have already begun the long and difficult effort to demobilise and ‘demystify the gun,’ in the words of one Ugandan statesman. Haiti is another example of a country which bravely made the decision to demilitarise, a step towards democracy and development which must not now be abandoned by the international community.

The global arms trade, and its accompanying glut of military spending, continues to represent the single most significant perversion of worldwide priorities known today. It buttresses wars, criminal activity and ethnic violence; destabilises emerging democracies; inflates military budgets to the detriment of health care, education and basic infrastructure; and exaggerates global relationships of inequality and underdevelopment. Without massive and coordinated action, militarism will continue to be a scourge on our hopes for a more peaceful and just twenty-first century.

Oscar Arias

Oscar Arias, a former president of Costa Rica, is the 1987 Nobel Peace Laureate.
Arias Foundation for Peace and Human Progress
www.arias.or.cr/english/index.html

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