The changes and shifts in the armament trends and military expenditures have been among the main factors that shape the international security landscape. In recent years, it has been observed that both global military spending and international arms trade have steadily increased. The fact that China’s military spending increased by 83 percent between 2009-2018, and that the United States increased its military spending for the first time in seven years, led some to conclude that the great power competition is back. In the regional sense, it is likely that Turkey’s increasing military expenditure and its looming indigenous defense industry, as well as the significant amount of arms purchases by certain Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Qatar will be followed by strategic implications. Both the international and regional aspects of arms sales and military spending trends demonstrate that increased uncertainty and insecurity along with sophisticated threats are the major factors that carry the risk of undermining stability within the international system, hence increasing the importance of the subject in question.

You are cordially invited to the Global Armament and Military Spending Trends panel where Siemon T. Wezeman, senior researcher at SIPRI, will discuss all these matters

Note: The panel will be held in English and simultaneous translation services to Turkish will be provided.