Unworthy?

There has been a lot of talk from pro-war circles about how France shouldn't have a veto: It was never merited; France is a medium power at best; its glory days are well over; etc. But take a look at how France stacks up against the rest in terms of military spending. It's pretty substantial (and a bigger percentage of GDP than most). [Shaded cells = permanent Security Council member.]

country	GDP	military
U.S.A.	$10.082 trillion	$276.7 billion
China	$5.560 trillion	$55.0 billion
France	$1.540 trillion	$46.5 billion
Germany	$2.184 trillion	$38.8 billion
Russia	$1.200 trillion	$33.0 billion
Gr. Britain	$1.470 trillion	$31.7 billion
Italy	$1.402 trillion	$20.2 billion
Saudi Arabia	$ .241 trillion	$18.3 billion
Brazil	$1.340 trillion	$13.4 billion
India	$2.660 trillion	$12.0 billion
Australia	$ .465 trillion	$9.3 billion
Israel	$ .119 trillion	$8.8 billion
Spain	$ .828 trillion	$8.6 billion
Canada	$ .875 trillion	$7.8 billion

source: CIA World Factbook. Expenditures are from budgets in 2000, 2001, or 2002 (varies by country)

NOTE: Figures for China and Russia are hard to come by. Even the CIA won't give a number for Russia, and has a wide range for China (e.g. "$20.048 billion (2002); note - this is the officially announced figure, but actual defense spending more likely ranges from $45 billion to $65 billion for 2002")

posted by Quiddity at 3/16/2003 10:57:00 PM