In 2022, United States Weapons Sales to NATO Member States Nearly Doubled
Jose Nino
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According to a report by Foreign Policy magazine on December 29, 2022, the United States government’s weapons sales to NATO member nations in 2022 have sharply increased due to concerns about the Russo-Ukrainian conflict potentially escalating.
This report noted that arms sales to NATO nearly doubled in the past year.
Foreign Policy analyzed two years of data from the US Defense Department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency which found that US arms sales had grown from $15.5 billion in 2021 to $28 billion in 2022.
In the foreign affairs magazine’s view, the increased arms sales to NATO countries represents a notable change in Europe’s defense policy in the wake of Russia’s military incursion in Ukraine. The common perception is that European countries have been pretty lackadaisical when it comes to their military spending.
For the US military-industrial complex, the Russo-Ukrainian conflict has been a major boon. Demand for American ammunition and weapons has grown through the roof among European nations and Ukraine.
On top of weapons sold to the US’s allies, the US Deep State has sent $110 in total military aid to Ukraine since February.
Press TV reported on how US arms manufacturers ended 2022 with a strong stock performance:
The four largest US arms manufacturers all ended 2022 with their stocks at or near all-time highs. Lockheed Martin’s share price is currently up 37 percent from this time last year. Boeing’s stock, which had taken a beating since the COVID pandemic grounded flights worldwide, has been buoyed by the conflict in Ukraine and now sits roughly where it did a year ago. Raytheon has seen its share price rise by 17 percent this year, while General Dynamics has increased in value by 18 percent.
War is the health of the state and the wet dream of the merchants of death in the military-industrial complex. The Russo-Ukrainian conflict is one that should not concern the US given how it poses no existential threat to the country. But the interventionist mindset is so strong in DC that all geopolitical conflicts are viewed as ways to justify additional military spending and further intervention abroad.
The US will eventually have to scale back its military presence abroad and start focusing on its border. If it doesn’t, it will bleed itself to death via military overextension.
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