http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/international/ticker/detail/Military_spending_tops_Cold_War_record.html?siteSect=143&sid=7089380&cKey=1158909827000UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Global military spending is expected to hit $1.06 trillion (840 billion pounds) this year, topping the record set during the Cold War era, an international aid agency reported on Friday.
"Arms sales do not start conflicts, but they certainly fuel and lengthen them," said Bernice Romero, international campaign director for Oxfam International, the group that released the study. "It is time the world stemmed the uncontrolled flood of weapons into the world's war zones."
The previous record for military spending was set in 1988, towards the end of the Cold War, when governments spent an estimated $1.03 trillion, Oxfam said. After falling off after the Cold War ended, military spending has been steadily climbing since 1999, the group said.
Oxfam released the study as seven nations tried to drum up support at the 192-nation U.N. General Assembly for a treaty banning arms sales to those intent on genocide, human rights abuses or U.N. arms embargo violations.