There’s a lot of buzz from the media on the SIPRI statistic on Saudi Arabian defense spending from last week:
Saudi Arabia’s spending rose by 14% from 2012 to 2013, and is at $67 billion USD
Saudi Arabia has become the world’s fourth largest military spender. Regionally, the Middle East increased military spending by four percent in 2013, reaching an estimated $150 billion. The National reports that this statistic is likely to be higher than estimated, as there is no available data for the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Qatar, Syria, and Yemen. Sam Perlo-Freeman, director of SIPRI’s military expenditure program, said the missing data meant the estimated Middle East military spending was “highly uncertain”. The biggest increase in spending from this region is from Iraq, with a 27 percent increase in military spending .
Saudi military spending has more than doubled in 10 years, says the SIPRI report. Perlo-Freeman explained world increasing, saying that “while in some cases it is the natural result of economic growth or a response to genuine security needs, in other cases it represents a squandering of natural resource revenues, the dominance of autocratic regimes, or emerging regional arms races.” SIPRI suggested that the increases are not only due to tensions with Iran, but to deter internal opposition and maintain a strong and loyal military. While the United States has traditionally defended sea-lanes around the Arabian Sea, it is possible that the Saudis are worried about the U.S. ‘pivot to Asia’ (elsewhere in Asia…), and are investing in their own military to protect Saudi oil trade. Under Russia, Saudi Arabia is the second highest oil producing country in the world.
Mustafa Alani, Director of Security and Defense Studies at the Gulf Research Centre said that Saudi Arabia wants to update its weaponry, saying that “Saudi Arabia’s current military hardware is about 20 years old and the regional threats are increasing, ” and “There is an unstable Iraq in the north, an unstable Yemen in the south and Iranian hegemony and intimidation.”
-B.F.