Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong on the lunar surface on Sunday, July 20, 1969. 50 years on? Consolidated Nasa/Press Association. All rights reserved.
Around this time of year, many leading military journals will publish a sort of 'year-in-review' article, often pointing to new threats and almost always implying the need to increase military spending. Some, even if still establishment-centred in their analysis, do tend to be more balanced, and one of the most interesting in this regard is the United States magazine, Aviation Week and Space Technology. What gives it the edge here is that military issues form just one component of the publication's remit, the greater part being commercial aviation and space research.
The latest annual review in AvWeek, published in its 24 December 2018 issue, also looks forward in assessing prospects for 2019. The country-by-country examination, with its estimates for military spending (both as overall figures and as a percentage of GDP) is fascinating from the start.
