Recessions and insurgencies certainly capture headlines. Slow-moving arms races? Not so much.
As the global financial crisis fills the news cycle or the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan dominate broadcasts, these events overshadow the threat of a six-nation arms race in Northeast Asia.
The players are the United States, China, Russia, Japan and North and South Korea. Collectively, they contribute 65 per cent of the $1.4 trillion spent on global defense, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Just to be clear, that's $1,464,000,000,000 per year.
But, what's truly alarming is that figure is up 45 per cent in the last decade.
The United States plays a critical role in Asia by stationing about 70,000 troops in Japan and South Korea compared to 48,000 in Afghanistan. Recently, Kurt Campbell, U.S. President Barack Obama's assistant secretary of state, told his Senate confirmation hearing the United States must increase that presence.
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