The implications of increasing military spending on human security: a global perspective

Abstract

The war between Russia and Ukraine which started on the 24th of February 2022, has heightened concerns about the implications of rising military expenditure on the spread of weapons and world security. Since the 9/11 attacks in the United States, studies have indicated that state military spending has increased, raising concerns among policymakers throughout the world. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate how an increase in military spending may affect both human security and the proliferation of weapons. Data for this study were gathered from secondary sources using a historical research approach, and content analysis was used for analysing the data. This study makes the case that increasing military spending has detrimental effects on human security in a variety of contexts, including the political, socio-psychological, and economic components of daily living. On the economic front, funds that could be utilised to raise citizen welfare are instead being spent to buy military hardware and software. In the political realm, it results in invasion and the funding of proxy wars, while on the social front, it has sparked hostility and concerns among nations. Lastly, this study recommended among other things that there is the need for collective effortsby member states of the United Nations through collective security to pressurised erring states.