NATO - Most Members Hit 2% Defense Spending
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced that 23 of its 32 member states were expected to meet the alliance’s defense spending commitments this year. That is 13 countries more compared to last year’s data, and five more than an earlier estimate in February.
“This is good for Europe and good for America,” Stoltenberg said in a speech unveiling the newest numbers in Washington, “especially since much of this extra money is spent here in the United States.”
The NATO defense investment target was agreed upon in 2014. The goal of the pledge was for members of the alliance to spend 2% of their gross domestic product (GDP) on national and joint defense, and to put 20% of annual defense expenditures toward new equipment. Much to the dismay of the US, the alliance’s largest military power, only 10 countries had met this target last year.
The leading three country countries spending the highest percentage of national GDP on defense are Poland (4.12%), Estonia (3.43%), and the US (3.38%). Among the countries who have stepped up their defense spending most noticeably are European powers Germany and France.
-www.dw.com, 19 June 2024
Arno's Commentary
The ever-enlarging, gigantic global organizations unwittingly aim for world dominion. That we know is going to happen.
Russia, at war with Ukraine, is solidifying its unity with North Korea and Vietnam, for example, as well as increasing its strong influence on the African continent.
With Russia’s invasion of Ukrainian territory on 24 February 2022, many European states awakened to the possibility of being involved or forced to participate in defense.
When it comes to comparisons between Russia and NATO, “[Russia] has 1.33 million active military personnel, according to Statista, but only about 4,182 military aircraft compared with Nato’s combined 20,633, and 598 military ships compared to Nato’s 2,151” (theweek.com, 12 January 2024).
If nothing else, NATO is an organization that incorporates the potential of winning virtually any war.
From a Biblical perspective, however, the future of the military is doomed. More than 2,700 years ago, the prophet Isaiah proclaimed: “And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isaiah 2:4).
Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight Call Ministries and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed prophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. He has authored a number of well-received books, and has sponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.
