Reference Message Network reported on June 15 according to a report released by the Spanish "ABC" website on June 13, based on a report just released by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) in Geneva, global nuclear weapons spending increased by 11% compared to 2023 in 2024, with an annual total reaching 100.2 billion US dollars, mainly used for modernization of nuclear arsenals and in some cases expansion. The report said: "In 2024, the expenditure of nuclear-armed countries on the manufacture and maintenance of nuclear weapons could have covered the UN budget 28 times."
The United States recorded the largest annual increase, adding 5.3 billion US dollars, bringing its total spending to 56.8 billion US dollars, which exceeds the total spending of all other nuclear-armed countries. The UK spent 10.4 billion US dollars, an increase of 2.2 billion US dollars. Other nuclear-armed countries include China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, and Russia.
Alicia Sanders-Zakar, coordinator of ICAN's policy and research, said: "Regarding the increase in spending by the UK and France, I believe we really see - at least mentioned in the statements of political leaders - the ongoing war in Ukraine, tensions, which may be factors."
The UK and NATO allies currently view Russia as the main security threat in Europe and have launched plans to allocate a larger proportion of their gross domestic product to defense spending. However, it was observed that the growth in nuclear spending was more driven by long-term contract service costs and increased spending on the development of nuclear delivery systems, rather than imminent security concerns.
In the past five years, global nuclear weapons spending has significantly increased from 68 billion US dollars to 100 billion US dollars. The report also attempted to analyze the costs incurred by countries hosting nuclear weapons belonging to other countries on their territories, finding that this information is largely kept secret from citizens and lawmakers, avoiding democratic oversight.
Sanders-Zakar commented: "For countries that claim to have democratic qualifications, it is an insult to democracy that their citizens and lawmakers are not allowed to know about the deployment of nuclear weapons of other countries on their own territory or how much of their taxes are spent on these weapons."
According to ICAN's report, there are at least 463 billion US dollars worth of nuclear weapons contracts currently being executed, some of which have terms lasting decades. In 2024, at least 20 billion US dollars in new nuclear weapons contracts were awarded globally. Last year, nuclear weapons manufacturers invested 128 million US dollars in lobbying activities in the United States and France. Suzy Snyder, project coordinator of ICAN and co-author of the report, said: "Only by gaining a deep understanding of this vested interest system can the issue of nuclear weapons有望得到解决." (Compiled by Han Chao)
Original text: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7516070090681385513/
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