Crying Shame—Global Spending on Peace is Less than 1% of What the World Spends on Wars and War Preparations

Annual global military spending today is close to $3 trillion or $3000 billion. If we add all the other costs of wars, war preparations and war mongering, then this spending is much higher. This is many times higher than what the world needs to end the problems of hunger and deprivation of essential needs.

At the same time it is to be deeply regretted that total spending on peace is much less than 1% of the spending on wars, war preparations and war mongering. In fact it is likely to be less than 0.1%. What is more, not all that is spent in the name of peace is spent wisely.

There must be something incredibly wrong with a world which on a daily basis spends billions on killing and wounding, and not even 1% of this on saving and protecting. Yet such a cruel paradox hardly draws a mention from the world’s leaders or even from the big media.

While peace efforts must certainly involve a lot of voluntarism; nevertheless, substantially more funds are needed to take forward the cause of peace and non-violence in several ways and at several levels. First and foremost, a strong base for peace and non-violence should be created with a well thought out educational effort at schools and colleges, in families and communities, as well as within various spiritual, religious, and social organizations.

Secondly, media organizations that have distinguished themselves with their commitment to justice-based peace and solutions based on non-violence, or those who want to start such media efforts, should get adequate financial support. I have often seen such organizations struggling to raise support in the form of small donations. They should get a better and more firm economic base for carrying out their very important work.

Thirdly, we need economic support for initiating peace-making efforts by several experienced diplomats who are no longer in active government service and are thus free to participate in unbiased peace-making initiatives. Some of those who have held leadership positions in various countries in the past, and were known for their commitment to peace, can also offer their unbiased help. Senior academics and other scholars committed to peace can also have a very useful role. These initiatives can be helpful in making important breakthroughs for ending several wars and conflicts as well as for preventing new wars and conflicts.

Leading peace activists and activists of youth movements and women movements can also play a very helpful role. A strong peace movement must emerge worldwide to continuously and committedly advance the task of creating a world without wars and weapons of mass destruction. with continuity and commitment. This peace movement must of course have a lot of voluntarism but nevertheless substantial funds are needed for support full-time activists and secretarial and other staff.

Additionally, more funds are required for United Nations peace forces, which may be needed for some time in existing war and conflict zones to help end these conflicts and wars. While all those who have worked in difficult and dangerous conditions for peace deserve our respect, it must nevertheless be mentioned that such operations have sometimes been marred by undesirable and harmful activities and decisions. All precautions to minimize these possibilities must be taken.

Moreover, it must be clear that the peace work should be free from bias. Sometimes, the American, Chinese, or other lobbies try to create or support their own versions of highly biased peace work, which cannot be very helpful. or other lobbies try to create or support their own versions of highly biased peace work which cannot be very helpful. The funds coming from such lobbies for so-called peace work cannot create real peace. Once this is remembered, we realize that the availability of funds for real peace work is even less than what appears at the surface level, as some ‘peace work’ being done is actually only the work of certain lobbies.

These are just a few indications of why substantially more support is needed for unbiased, sincere and true peace work which has the greatest chance of success.