PROJECT ON DEMlLlTARlZATlON AND DEMOCRACY

The Year 2000 Campaign to Redirect World Military Spending to Human Development

Campaign Statement
as presented by
Dr. Oscar Arias
U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali
and at
a Capitol Hill Symposium
sponsored by
Senator Mark O. Hatfield

December 1995

For further Information Contact:

Pamela Richardson, Campaign Coordinator,
Project on Demilitarization and Democracy,
1601 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 600,
Washington, D.C. 20009
(202) 319 7191 /(202) 319 7194 fax
e-mail: pdd@clark.net

The Year 2000 Campaign to Redirect
World Military Spending
to Human Development

The world's governments spend $868 billion a year to support military forces of more than 27 million soldiers. This phenomenal expenditure for achieving security is itself a threat to security: global military spending represents 12 percent of ail government expenditures at a time when citizens in both developed and developing countries face sharp cuts in social programs such as health and education Global military spending must be reduced and this reduction must be accompanied by an increase in funding for human development. An outdated definition of military security that focuses on the proliferation of arms and the capacity to wage war must be replaced by a definition of human security that includes the right to live without poverty, hunger, disease, human rights abuses, and war.

It is our belief that by reducing global military spending, demilitarizing societies, and developing concrete plans for regional conflict prevention, global security in the 21st century cannot only be preserved, but enhanced.

Reducing Global Military Spending

Developed nations bear a large pan of the responsibility for the $868 billion price tag on global security, accounting for 75 percent of the world's military spending. The United States alone spends $270 billion on its defense budget -- a third of the world's total -- allegedly to keep its force readiness high enough to fight two simultaneous wars. However, for many countries, including the United States, sufficient military security can be achieved at far lower levels of spending than currently exist

Not only are the developed countries big military spenders; they are also responsible for 90 percent of arms transfers to developing nations The dangerous global proliferation of arms and weapons technology has contributed to inciting and prolonging many of the world's 44 regional and internal conflicts, most of these in developing countries.

Footnote: World military spending figures are for 1993 in 1993 dollars from World Military Expenditures and Arms Transfers, 1993-1494, U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency; numbers of soldiers is for 1990 from World Military and Social Expenditures, 1993, Ruth Leger Sivard, World Priorities.

Developing countries today spend $221 billion on armed forces. While this is far lower than the $648 billion in military spending by the developed world, it is still a tremendous drain on these nations' already-limited resources. Military spending exacts a particularly heavy toll on the social sector in the developing world and too often means a trade-off in which the rest of society loses. New weapons procurement and larger armies simply mean less funds to invest in health, education, economic development, and other urgent social needs of large, often vulnerable populations.

* In the developing world, where more than 900 million people can not read or write, military spending exceeds spending on education.

* In the developing world, where one billion people never see a health professional and where more than two million children die of preventable infectious diseases, military spending is more than twice as high as spending on health.

* Although some developing countries in the Middle East and East Asia have high standards of living despite having high military spending, this level of military spending is still a significant drain on regional economic development because it fuels arms races and reduces productive spending.

World military spending has declined in real terms by 31 percent since the high of $1.26 trillion in 1987 during the Cold War. However, 80 percent of this decline came from the sharp drop in spending by former Warsaw Pact nations. Despite the end of the Cold War, developed nations other than those of the former Warsaw Pact spend only 10 percent less than they did in 1987. In developing countries, military spending levels did not even decline at that modest rate. Currently, military spending is decreasing on average by only two percent annually in developing countries and four percent in developed countries.

These facts and figures indicate that while demilitarization is beginning in the post Cold War world, we have only taken several small steps on the long and difficult road to peace, conflict resolution, and disarmament. What will take us forward and what is especially appropriate at this time, five years after the end of the Cold War and five years before the end of the century -- is a commitment by all nations to reduce the global military burden dramatically without reducing security.

Population figures are from Human Development Report, 1994, U.N. Development Programme; spending figures are from World Military and Social Expenditures, 1993, op. cit.

Demilitarizing Society

Security in the 21st century can be enhanced not only by reducing military spending but also by limiting the power of arms producers to dictate foreign policy priorities, thereby halting the flow of conventional arms to non-democratic regimes and volatile regions In many developing countries, security can be strengthened by taking the armed forces out of positions of political and economic power and replacing them with legitimate, democratically elected governments

In a world committed to demilitarization where Global military spending is dramatically reduced, billions of dollars can be made available for social development programs and for investment in the demilitarization process. Urgent demilitarization needs include: troop demobilization and reintegration into civil society. destruction of weapons including nuclear weapons; landmine removal; community and environmental reconstruction; and conversion from military research and arms production to civilian economic activity

Regional Conflict Prevention

This initiative to reduce global military spending requires a fundamental re-evaluation of security and the role of the armed forces in today's world. Security in the 21st century will continue to emphasize the need to deter and defend against foreign attack and participate in international peacekeeping operations However, security must also encompass the reduction of threats and the prevention of conflict through dialogue, mutual disarmament, and other confidence-building measures

Initiatives related to this broader definition of security are already developing in such areas as Central America, the Middle East, and Southern Africa, but they have to be nurtured Similar initiatives need to be started in other potential areas of conflict. In fact, we believe that each and every region of the world should participate in United Nations-administered security talks focused on demilitarization and regional confidence-building.

We are presenting what we believe is a practical plan that the United Nations Secretary-General can implement and that citizens in all countries can pressure their governments to adopt Under this plan, all nations would take party in regional talks that would result in substantial mutual cuts in military forces and spending. The outcome would be a world in which all countries are more secure at less cost.

Our goal is for the talks to be completed and the cuts begun by the year 2000. This campaign provides an opportunity for the world to reclaim a substantial peace dividend each and every year It envisions a global society committed to demilitarization. collective security, and human development. To make this vision a reality. individuals and groups from around the world are endorsing this Year 2000 campaign to redirect world military spending to human development. We ask other individuals and groups to join us as we encourage the United Nations and its agencies and member governments to implement the following six-point proposal.

The Year 2000 Campaign Proposes That:

1 The Security Council and General Assembly of the United Nations call on all nations to commit to meeting with their neighbors to identify and implement confidence-building measures and mutual reductions in military threats that will reduce the likelihood of future conflicts. These nations will seek to achieve substantial reductions in military forces and expenditures by the Year 2000.

2 Special envoys be appointed by the U.N Secretary-General to organize these demilitarization talks in various regions of the world.

3 Every nation meet with its regional envoy to present plans for regional security at reduced force levels. These nations will also participate in negotiations guided by the envoy in order to identify military capacities and implement mutual force reductions. Such negotiations will reduce the threat that nations pose to each other due to the size, proximity, and technological sophistication of their armed forces.

4. With savings from reduced military spending, ali nations, in cooperation with grassroots organizations, implement economic reforms related to demilitarization, such as the conversion of military to non-military production, landmine clearance, community reconstruction, and the reintegration of demobilized soldiers

5 In support of the steps taken toward demilitarization by developing countries, industrialized nations condition their bilateral and multilateral aid to promote demilitarization. They will exchange debt forgiveness for military conversion efforts, provide special funding for programs to assist the demobilization process, promote full transparency and reductions in military budgets, and bring about the end of military involvement in the civilian economy.

6. All arms-exporting nations agree to a Code of Conduct on arms transfers that would bar arms exports to non-democratic governments, countries engaged in armed aggression in violation of international law, countries that do not fully participate in the U.hi. Register of Conventional Arms, and governments permitting gross violations of internationally-recognized human rights.

The Year 2000 Campaign to Redirect World Military Spending to Human Development

Initial Endorsers:

Dr. Oscar Arias, former President of Costa Rica
Rep, Ronald V Dellums (D-Cal)
Dr. Randall Forsberg, Director, Institute for Defense and Disarmament Studies Rep. Elizabeth Furse (D-Ore.)
Senator Mark O Hatfield (R-Ore.)
Rep. Joseph P Kennedy II(D-Mass)
Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.)
Rep George Miller (D-Cal)
Rep. Constance Morella (R-Md.)
Dr Sulayman Nyang, Department of African Studies, Hoard University

Coordinating Organizations:
Arias Foundation for Peace and Human Progress
Council on Economic Priorities (Ms Jordana Friedman, Director, International Security Program)
Military Spending Working Group (Mr. John Pike, Chair)
Project on Demilitarization and Democracy (Dr Caleb Rossiter, Director)

Endorsing Organizations:
African-American Institute
American Friends Service Committee
Americans for Democratic Action
Asia Pacific Center for Justice and Peace
Bread for the World
British American Security Information Council
Center for Defense Information
Center for International Policy
Church of the Brethren (Washington Office)
Comboni Missionaries
Common Agenda Coalition Council for a Livable World
Economists Allied for Arms Reduction
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Friends of the Earth
Fund for New Priorities in America
Institute for Defense and Disarmament Studies
International Center for Research on Women
International Center for Technology Assessment
Lawyers Alliance for World Security
Lutheran World Relief
Maryknoll Justice and Peace Office
Maryknoll Mission Association of the Faithful
Mennonite Central Committee US
Millennium Institute
National Commission for Economic Conversion and Disarmament
NETWORK: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby
Nicaragua-United States Friendship Office
Peace Action
Peace Action International
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Roman Catholic Conference of Superiors of Men's Institutes
Saferworld
Society of African Missions, Office of Justice and Peace 20120
Vision National Project
Unitarian Universalist Association
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
U. S. Committee for UNICEF
Veterans for Peace, Inc.
Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation
Washington Office on Latin America
Women for Meaningful Summits
Women's Action for New Directions
Women Strike for Peace
World Order Models Project

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