Transatlantic TakeBERLIN—This week, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen announced that she wants to spend €130 billion ($140 billion) on defense equipment until 2030 — increasing the overall defense spending by €3-4 billion annually over the next 15 years. The bold announcement was actually the latest step in a longer-term plan by the German government to reverse the decline of the defense budget. But though the budget increase is analytically wrong, it is politically right.
It is analytically wrong because, logically, one should have begun by making sure that the existing defense budget was being spent wisely. For years, the …read more
Germany’s Defense Budget Increase: Analytically Wrong but Politically Right
