NATO talks aim to staunch defense cuts

By Li Jing

During Thursday's ministerial meeting, NATO will appeal to its member countries not to sacrifice defense spending on the altar of fiscal discipline.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen warned Monday that the 28 allied nations must not "cut too much, or in the wrong way," as deep reductions in defense spending "might jeopardize our security in the future."

"Economic prosperity depends on security too," he insisted ahead of the NATO defense ministers' meeting in Brussels today and tomorrow.

Zhang Zhaozhong, a professor at the PLA National Defense University, said that three factors trigger defense cuts by NATO nations.

"Member states that joined NATO after the group's expansion have not completely blended into the organization's military strategy. They are not keen on a hefty defense budget," Zhang explained.

"Veteran members of the group, hampered by the financial crisis, are eager to cut down defense spending," he told the Global Times, adding that increased military spending will draw criticism from the international community, which demands peace and stability.

US defense spending easily surpasses 3 percent of the country's GDP, at $661 billion - almost half the world's total expenditure last year.

Washington's European partners have largely benefited from the "peace dividend" since the end of the Cold War.

According to NATO figures, Germany, Italy and Spain dedicated 1.3 percent of their GDP to defense in 2008.

The figures for the years from 1985 to 1989 were 2.9 percent, 2.2 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively.

Britain and France spend only a 10th of what their transatlantic partners do on defense, while managing to keep the level above 2 percent of output.

This spending too is well below their respective 4.4 percent and 3.7 percent spending levels seen before East-West tension subsided.