ECONOMY AND DEFENCE IN THE NATO MEMBER STATES
ECONOMY AND DEFENCE IN THE NATO MEMBER STATES

Summary/Abstract: A state has to divide limited economical resources optimally between its defence and peace expenditures. The aim of this research is to point out the bases of actual tendencies in the development of the NATO Member States defence budgets when the global economic and finance crisis has significant negative impact on the amount of resources which individual states are willing to spend in order to secure their respective defence at the national level and collective defence at the Alliance level. From the analysis of defence expenditure trends in selected NATO countries results that while among the North American NATO members (USA and Canada) securing their individual and collective defence has remained despite the crisis a high priority, among the European members of the Alliance defence expenditures have become after the breakout of global economic-financial crisis the first victim of saving. Reduction of defence budgets in European countries have also fundamentally influenced the overall trend of defence expenditures in the North-Atlantic Alliance as a whole, since the reasons are not only economic, but also political and they are narrowly connected with the shortage of cohesion in the entire NATO defence cooperation.

• Details
• Contents