Perspectives
Global Defense Outlook 2016
Shifting Postures and Emerging Fault Lines
The global business environment is shaped by national defense policies. How are these crucial policies evolving, and what do they portend for business and operating risks? The Deloitte Global Defense Outlook can help you gain a fact-based perspective on the impact of defense policy on your enterprise.
Global Defense Outlook overview
Rapid, sustained economic growth combined with broad-based declines in global levels of military operations continues to transform the global defense environment. Over the next five years, these economic forces appear likely to continue moderating global defense postures. Deloitte’s unique seven-dimension Defense Posture Index (DPI) shows that only seven of the fifty largest defense spenders have raised their defense posture since 2011.
Global defense postures continue to moderate, and economic development is reducing dependence on defense spending globally. But five global fault lines have emerged. Weak global institutions and advancing technology raise risks of conflict along these fault lines:
- Russia/NATO: conventional forces confrontation in Eastern Europe
- China/Pacific States: maritime confrontation in the South China Sea
- States/Terrorists: asymmetric confrontation in Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia
- Mature/Emerging Nuclear Powers: emerging asymmetries among nuclear states
- Information Economies/Emerging Economies: confrontation in cyberspace
The 2016 Global Defense Outlook examines policies, practices, and trends affecting the defense strategies and resources of 50 nations whose combined defense budgets total over 95% of projected global defense spending in 2020. The Global Defense Outlook also explores implications for defense policymakers and offers recommendations for managing shocks along the fault lines.
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Prior years' reports
View or download copies of prior years' Global Defense Outlook reports.