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Article: Modernization, arms race the same thing
- Article from:
- Columbia Daily Tribune
- Article date:
- August 12, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2008 Columbia Daily Tribune. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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The official view in U.S. and Latin American government circles
is that there is no arms race going on in South America and that
most countries are just modernizing their armed forces. Hmmm, I
wonder.
Before we get into what various governments say, let's look at
the latest figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research
Institute, which tracks military expenditures and arms transfers
around the world on an annual basis.
According to SIPRI's 2008 annual yearbook, South America has
increased military spending by 33 percent in real terms - after
inflation - since 2000.
Last year, South America spent nearly $40 billion on its armed
forces, the Swedish research institute says. More ...