Military Spending in Developing Countries: How Much Is Too Much?

Graeme S. Mount is a professor of history at Laurentian University, the
author of Canada’s Enemies: Spies and Spying in the Peaceable Kingdom,
and the co-author of The Border at Sault Ste. Marie.

Brian S. MacDonald, an authority on military affairs, wondered whether
recipients of Canadian aid were wasting much of what they already had on
unnecessary military expenditures. To find out, he studied 10 countries
in Africa and the Middle East. The result is a book laden with facts and
figures.

Given the security threats that they faced, MacDonald concluded, seven
of the 10 were spending too much. Zimbabwe acted as though hostile white
supremacists still held power in South Africa. Perhaps, he explains,
“the Mugabe administration has sought to provide lifetime career
employment to the military members of the black independence forces.”
Even if Afrikaaners were to stage a coup and regain power, Zimbabwe’s
air force and army could never resist a South African attack.
Zimbabwe’s defence must be political, not military. The military are
much too powerful in Burkina Faso, Mali, Cameroon, and Kenya, and take
advantage of their strength. Zambia’s forces suffer from inefficiency,
and Tanzania has disarmed more slowly than regional strategic realities
would warrant.

By contrast, Morocco, Egypt, and Jordan need the forces they have.
Morocco faces a potential security threat from Algeria, and Algeria is
winning the arms race. As tensions with Israel have subsided, Egypt and
Jordan have reduced their military expenditures, but they cannot disarm
completely. Israel is not the only security threat in their
neighborhood.

This book is a particularly useful reference for historians,
commentators, and donors of foreign aid.