Demilitarisation and Peace-Building in Southern Africa: Volume I - Concepts and Processes by Peter Batchelor

Author:Peter Batchelor [Batchelor, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780429838293
Goodreads: 43329386
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2018-12-17T00:00:00+00:00

Source: SIPRI Yearbook, 1999.

The data presented in Table 4.1 shows that in terms of absolute levels of military spending, southern Africa as a region has experienced a marked decline in military spending since the late 1980s. Total military expenditure declined from US$5.8 billion in 1989 to US$3.9 billion in 1997, a decline of more than 32% in real terms. Much of this decline can be attributed to the dramatic reductions in South Africa’s defence budget, which was cut by more than 50% in real terms between 1989 and 1997. South Africa continues to dominate military spending in southern Africa, and accounted for 62% of the region’s total in 1997 (down from 89% in 1989).4

At the level of individual countries, the trends are varied. Angola’s levels of military spending have fluctuated dramatically between 1992 and 1997, although this is probably related to highly questionable data and exchange rate problems.5 Mozambique and South Africa have both made significant real cuts in their levels of defence spending between 1989 and 1997, as a result of positive domestic political developments, such as the ending of internal conflicts. In Zimbabwe, the cuts in defence spending (particularly between 1990 and 1993) were both in response to positive political developments in the region (the ending of apartheid in South Africa) and because of growing economic constraints. Botswana has experienced real increases in its absolute levels of defence spending since the late 1980s, as a result of the expansion and development of the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) and also the perception of growing external security threats (such as possible territorial disputes with Namibia).

There is some debate as to whether a country’s official defence budget is a useful, or indeed accurate, indicator of demilitarisation. It is often argued that when attempting to assess demilitarisation, it is more accurate to focus on security spending (spending on military, police and intelligence combined) than only defence spending.6 Another argument is that it is difficult to compare defence spending across countries in southern Africa, as there is no common definition of defence spending. For example, in some countries (Botswana, for example) the defence budget is subsumed under a different budget category (such as the Office of the President). Meanwhile in some countries (Namibia is one), defence spending is spread (or ‘hidden’) across different budget categories, and is not therefore accurately reflected in the defence budget. In certain countries (such as Mozambique), spending on the armed forces and the police is combined into a single budget category (security). Given the above, it is clear that focusing exclusively on so-called defence spending may have limited utility as an indicator of demilitarisation patterns and trends in southern Africa. It is therefore necessary to also use the other indicators identified earlier to determine demilitarisation patterns and trends within and between countries.

An additional problem with defence budgets is that the absolute levels of military expenditure, both in local currency and US dollars, do not accurately reflect a country’s degree of militarisation (or demilitarisation, for that matter). A more

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