Good reads & charts - February 14, 2024

In this edition: NATO spending and hard work. Plus, Saudi money and investment (or lack thereof) in China!

Good reads & charts provides an assortment of interesting articles and data that I have come across recently that do not warrant a full article and might not be related to something I have previously discussed, but I feel are worth larger consumption.

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NATO spending

Here are two charts that document NATO spending over time.

The first shows how much money each NATO member has spent (as a percentage of their respective GDP) over the past ten years.

As you can see, 11 countries spent at least 2% of GDP on defense in 2023 - nine Eastern European countries that are most at-risk to a belligerent Putin + the US and UK.

Source: WaPo

Source: See which NATO countries spend less than 2% of their GDP on defense (WaPo)

More directly, the non-US/UK G7 countries in NATO (Canada, France, Germany and Italy)¹ have consistently fallen short of the 2% target.

Source: FT

Source: Most Nato members to hit spending target as alliance braces for potential Trump win (FT)

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American values