NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has made no secret of the fact that he wants more from member nations at this year’s leaders’ summit. Exactly how much more is still a matter for discussion, but the 31 states with NATO membership are expected to make a more ambitious pledge than they have to date. The agreed-upon…

Commentary According to a newspaper, not this one, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attends the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, this week “pressure will be on” to make a meaningful contribution to the alliance. Pressure being a colourless, odourless gas whose only known effect is to cause journalists to write headlines. We’ve been free-riding on…

Commentary “Mr Speaker, I am announcing tonight a schedule to increase Australia’s defence expenditure to three percent of GDP over the next 10 years. “This is a necessary response to the Defence Strategic Review which the Albanese government commissioned, the recommendations of which we endorsed recently. It is a realistic response to the threats to our…

About two in three Canadians say they would prefer increasing defence spending to reach the 2 percent target committed by member countries in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a new poll finds. Conducted by Nanos Research, the poll found that 64 percent of Canadians support spending 2 percent of their country’s gross domestic product…

About two in three Canadians say they would prefer increasing defence spending to reach the 2 percent target committed by member countries in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a new poll finds. Conducted by Nanos Research, the poll found that 64 percent of Canadians support spending 2 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP)…

Britain will increasing its defence spending to 2.5 percent of GDP by the end of the decade, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced. The pledge could amount to an extra £55.1 billion ($67 billion) cumulatively over the rest of the decade in order to reach the 2.5 percent goal in 2030, based on forecasts of…

The UK’s Conservative backbenchers have called on the ministers to increase the country’s defence spending in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It comes after Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said spending 2 percent of GDP on defence “must be a floor, not a ceiling,” referring to NATO countries’ baseline spending commitments. In a report submitted…

The Australian centre-right Coalition government has promised more than $8 billion  (US$5.6 billion) will be spent as part of a boost to Australia’s military helicopter fleet, should they be re-elected. Prime Minister Scott Morrison will announce on Monday the provision of 12 new Romeo maritime helicopters, to be based at HMAS Albatross in the marginal…

The federal government increased defence spending in its April 7 budget, but details on how the money will be spent are lacking, as the feds also announced a review of its national defence policy.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is urging Canada and all NATO allies to fulfill their pledge to increase defence spending to at least two percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Referring to a 2014 agreement that commits allies to increase funding to “strengthen the military capabilities the alliance needs,” Stoltenberg said there is a need “to…