Armenia and Azerbaijan are included in top ten of the most militarized countries in the world, according to the Global Militarisation Index (GMI) 2014 published by the Bonn International Center for Conservation.

Armenia is ranked the third with an index of 782.99, while Azerbaijan is ranked tenth. Russia is also in top 10, while Israel is the most militarized state.

The neighbouring states Armenia and Azerbaijan show very high levels of militarisation and have initiated major increases in their military expenditures over past years, the report says.

“This situation is dangerous”, Conrad Schetter, Research Director of BICC, assesses and recommends using the GMI as an “early warning system”.

The high levels of militarisation in the South Caucasus must, however, be seen in the overall context. Russia (position 5) has been pursuing a comprehensive military reform since 2008 in which the armed forces are to be repositioned, the weapons systems to be modernised and the arms industrial capacities to be improved. Currently it delivers arms to both South Caucasian republics.

The GMI compares, for example, a country’s military expenditure with its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and its health expenditure.