Reducing Military Spending in Saudi Arabia Essay

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Saudi Arabia is one of the largest military spenders across the globe at a time when worldwide military spending has continued to stabilize. Based on recent statistics, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia spends a quarter of its national budget (25%) on its military. The high military expenditure in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has become a major issue of concern given that it’s twice as much as expenditures on health and social development. The increased spending on military is attributable to Saudi Arabia’s recent engagement in a war in Yemen and joining forces with Turkey against President Bashar Assad of Syria (Moshinsky & Martin, 2016). Additionally, the huge expenditures on the military are geared towards enhancing artillery and capacities of the kingdom’s forces. While enhancing military capacity and artillery is not a bad thing, the huge military expenditures raises huge concerns since they are carried out at the expense of other important aspects of governance such as health and social development. Reducing military spending in Saudi Arabia requires lessening arms imports through restructuring its military contracts while promoting the growth of the local artillery industry.

Saudi Arabia’s Military Spending

As previously mentioned, Saudi Arabia is currently one of the largest military spenders worldwide through global spending on the military has continued to plateau in the past few years. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia recently increased its spending on the military by 6.7% on the national budget i.e. $50.8 billion. According to Moshinsky & Martin (2016), it is estimated that Saudi Arabia currently spends 25% of its national budget on the military, which is twice as much as what is spent on health and social development. The huge expenditure on the military is estimated to be 13% of Saudi Arabia’s gross domestic product (GDP).

Saudi Arabia’s increased expenditure on its military can be traced back to 2002 when military spending started to account for a significant portion of its national budget. Since 2002, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has increased its military spending annually though its military expenditure in 2016 represented a 30% decrease from the previous year (Tian et al, 2017). The increased military spending by Saudi Arabia since 2002 is attributable to various factors including the high military burden in the Middle East. The Middle East has been characterized by increased security concerns in the past few decades. The increase in these security concerns has contributed to high military burden in the region, which has in turn fueled increased military expenditure by Middle East nations, particularly Saudi Arabia.

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Apart from the high military burden in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia’s increased military spending has also been fueled by its recent engagements in war. The country recently increased its national budget for military spending in 2017 by 6.7% because of its war with Yemen. While the kingdom’s military spending in 2016 was initially projected at 179 billion riyals, the country ended up spending more at approximately 205.1 billion (Reuters, 2016). This huge expenditure was not only because of its war with Yemen, but was also fueled by its decision to join forces with Turkey in fighting Syrian President, Bashar Assad. Therefore, recent engagements in war have provided a strong justification for Saudi Arabia’s increased military spending.

The other factor that has contributed to the country’s increased military spending in recent years is its competition for regional influence with Iran, which is one of its major arch-rivals in the Middle East region. In light of the volatile security situation that has characterized the Middle East in recent decades, countries in this region have enhanced their competition with each other for regional influence. For Saudi Arabia, Iran has become a major arch-rival that is fighting to exert regional influence. The competition for regional influence with Iran has necessitated increased military expenditure by Saudi Arabia.

The Case for Reducing Military Spending in Saudi Arabia

Even though the previously mentioned factors provide a solid justification for Saudi Arabia’s huge military spending, the kingdom needs to examine loopholes that can be sealed to prevent and/or lessen the expenditures. In this regard, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is facing the need to lessen its military spending without compromising the capacity and artillery of its forces. This implies that there are measures that Saudi Arabia can undertake to lessen expenditures on the military while strengthening its forces, particularly because of the relatively volatile security situation in the Middle East region.

The case for reducing military spending in Saudi Arabia is supported by the fact that the current huge expenditures are undertaken at the expense of other important national development issues. Moshinsky & Martin (2016) contend that current military spending in Saudi Arabia is twice as much as expenditures on health and social development. This essentially means that the kingdom’s increased spending on the military could have devastating….....

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