Glossary
Plain definitions of the terms used across this site, including how military expenditure is measured and why sources disagree.
What Is "Overseas Contingency Operations"? (OCO Defined)
Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) was a now-retired US budget mechanism for funding wars like Iraq and Afghanistan outside the base defense budget, a category that sits within the $2,740.0bn spent globally by 149 countries in 2025.
Defense Economics Definition: 2025 World Total Explained
Defense economics is the study of military spending choices, illustrated by the $2,740.0bn spent across 149 countries in 2025.
Burden Sharing Definition: Military Spending Explained (2025)
Burden sharing is the concept of dividing collective defense costs, measured against a 2025 world military expenditure total of $2,740.0bn across 149 countries.
Operations and Maintenance Definition (2025 Data) | Glossary
Operations and maintenance (O&M) refers to military spending on running, sustaining and supporting armed forces, distinct from procurement or personnel pay, set against a 2025 world total of $2,740.0bn across 149 countries.
Guns Versus Butter Meaning: Definition & 2025 Data ($2,740bn)
Guns versus butter is the economic trade-off between military ('guns') and civilian ('butter') spending, illustrated by the $2,740.0bn the 149 countries in SIPRI's 2025 dataset spent on defense.
Security Assistance: Definition & 2025 Context ($2,740.0bn)
Security assistance is aid a state gives another state's military or security forces, distinct from that recipient's own defense budget, which summed to $2,740.0bn across 149 countries in 2025.
What Is the Defense Industrial Base? Definition & 2025 Spending Scale
The defense industrial base is the network of firms, facilities, and supply chains that equip a country's military, sized here by the $2,740.0bn in global military spending it drew on in 2025.
Defense Procurement Meaning: Definition & 2025 Context
Defense procurement is the process by which governments acquire military equipment, systems, and services, and it sits within a 2025 global military spending total of $2,740.0bn across 149 countries.
Defense Budget Meaning: Definition & 2025 Example ($929.2bn)
The US defense budget hit $929.2bn in 2025 — 3.12% of GDP and the largest in the world — making it the standard worked example of what "defense budget" means.
What Is Foreign Military Financing? 2025 World Total ($2.74tn)
Foreign Military Financing (FMF) is a U.S. government program that funds allied nations' purchases of American defense equipment, set against a 2025 world military-spending total of $2,740.0bn across 149 countries.
Security Cooperation Definition: 2025 Global Spending Context
Security cooperation refers to state-to-state defense engagement, and in 2025 it plays out against a backdrop of $2,740.0bn in combined military expenditure across the 149 countries SIPRI tracks.
What Is Defense Procurement? Definition & 2025 Spending
Defense procurement is the process by which governments buy weapons, equipment, and services for their armed forces, sitting within a 2025 world military spending total of $2,740.0bn across 149 countries.
Military Keynesianism Meaning: Definition & 2025 Context
Military keynesianism is the theory that government military spending stimulates economic growth and employment, illustrated by the $2,740.0bn the 149 countries in SIPRI's 2025 dataset spent on defense.
Security Assistance Meaning: Definition vs. $2,740.0bn World Spending
A plain-language definition of security assistance — and why it isn't the same thing as a country's own military budget.
What Is Burden Sharing? Definition & 2025 Spending Data
Burden sharing is the principle that allied nations should split defense costs fairly, measured against a 2025 world total of $2,740.0bn across 149 countries.
What Is the Defense Industrial Base? Definition & 2025 Data
The defense industrial base is the network of firms and infrastructure producing military goods and services, sustained by global military spending that totaled $2,740.0bn across 149 countries in 2025.
Military Spending Meaning: Definition & 2025 World Total
Military spending refers to a government's defense-related expenditure, and the 149 countries SIPRI tracks spent a combined $2,740.0bn in 2025.
What Is Military Expenditure? Definition & 2025 Total
Military expenditure is a country's total spending on its armed forces, and summing SIPRI's 2025 country data puts the world total at $2,740.0bn.
What Is Strategic Deterrence? Global Spending Hit $2.74tn in 2025
Strategic deterrence is the strategy of preventing attack through the credible threat of retaliation, a strategy playing out against $2,740.0bn in world military spending in 2025.
What Is Military Keynesianism? Definition & 2025 Scale
Military keynesianism is the use of military spending as economic stimulus, a concept whose scale is illustrated by the $2,740.0bn world total SIPRI's 149 reporting countries spent in 2025.
Defense Spending Definition: World Total 2025 ($2,740bn)
Defense spending is government military expenditure, and in 2025 the 149 countries SIPRI tracks spent a combined $2,740.0bn.
Military Expenditure Meaning: World Total $2.74tn (2025)
Military expenditure is the money a state spends on its armed forces and defense, and in 2025 the world total was $2,740.0bn across 149 SIPRI-reporting countries.
What Is a Defense Budget? US Spending Hit $929.2bn in 2025
A defense budget is the amount a government allocates to military spending in a given year, and in 2025 the United States budgeted $929.2bn — the largest in the world.