Guy Ben-Ari Knihy

The international security challenges facing European governments are more complex than ever. In parallel, the economic recession has forced governments to make difficult choices in their defense budgets that will greatly affect their near- and long-term military capabilities. An understanding of the budgetary, regulatory, and industrial base trends in the European defense market is therefore more critical than ever. This comprehensive report analyzes national defense budgets of 37 European countries, the European defense acquisition regulatory environment, and the European defense industrial base between 2001 and 2009. It integrates the analysis of these elements to provide a broader basis for assessing past and future trends in European defense policies and capabilities. Based on these groundbreaking and data-driven assessments, the report provides new insights and opportunities for developing European defense capabilities.

This report analyzes the defense budgets of the five countries with the largest defense budgets in China, India, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. Unlike defense budgets in many other regions, defense spending in these five countries has been on the rise for over a decade. For each country, the report examines overall defense spending for the years 2000 to 2011 as well as spending on acquisition, personnel, operations and maintenance (O&M) and research and development (R&D). It closes with several key findings and suggestions for further research.