News
We Are Spending Billions on War and Pennies on Peace.
Future Generations Will Pay the Price.
- Andrew Hassett
We live in an age of extraordinary and dangerous contradiction.
The world is wealthier than at any point in human history. Scientific and technological breakthroughs are transforming lives. Yet conflict and inequality are rising, people are being forced from their homes in search of safety at record levels, social cohesion is fraying, and millions of people are losing faith in the institutions designed to protect them.
More than 123 million people[1]* around the world have now been forcibly displaced. In Lebanon alone more than one million people[2]* have been forced from their homes in search of safety since the outbreak of widespread hostilities across the Middle East in early March.
Conflict, economic instability and political exclusion are colliding in ways that are creating unprecedented uncertainty and driving unimaginable human suffering.
Wealthy nations are choosing to respond by spending record amounts preparing for and fighting wars, while investing little on conflict prevention.
Global military expenditure reached a record US$2.71 trillion in 2024[3]*. Global news sources report the war with Iran has cost at least US$29 billion in direct expenses, with the true cost closer to US$ 270 billion. At the same time US aid plummeted by $38 billion from 2024-25. Globally, foreign aid fell by roughly $50 billion in a single year in 2025[4]* – that’s an annual reduction of 23.1% making it the largest ever annual contraction.
Here in Australia, we now spend more than ten times as much on defence as we do on overseas aid. By the end of the decade, that gap is forecast to grow even wider. If the federal budget were $100, around $6.60 would be spent on defence. Overseas aid would receive approximately 63 cents.
This should concern all of us.
Not because defence is unimportant. Governments have a responsibility to keep their citizens safe in an increasingly uncertain world.
But because we have created a dangerous imbalance that is making the world more dangerous and eroding the foundations of stable, peaceful and prosperous societies.
The result is growing conflict, record levels of displacement and millions of people facing uncertainty about their safety, livelihoods and future.
Yet rather than investing in the conditions that create lasting stability, we continue to spend billions responding to the consequences of instability. We underinvest in education, healthcare, inclusive institutions, economic opportunity, social cohesion and climate resilience—the very foundations that enable communities to flourish and for peace to endure.
We must ask ourselves why political and moral leadership remain largely silent. Pope Leo XIII cuts a lonely figure willing to speak out courageously for peace and human dignity.
According to the latest global peace research[5]*, violence cost the world almost US$20 trillion in 2024 alone. That is nearly 12 per cent of global economic activity.
Imagine if even a fraction of those resources were directed towards human development and preventing conflict before it erupts.
Towards strengthening local institutions and supporting young people into employment.
Towards building trust between divided communities in Australia and overseas and ensuring families have enough food, water and opportunity to remain safely in their community.
Instead, most stand on the sidelines whilst greed and power dominate fairness and equity, and international protections and basic human rights are diminished in front of our eyes.
This is not simply a humanitarian issue. It is a security issue. It is an economic issue. It is a leadership issue.
The displacement crisis illustrates this perfectly.
People rarely flee their homes because of a single event. Displacement is usually the result of multiple pressures building over time: conflict, drought, economic hardship, weak governance, social exclusion, climate change and political instability.
By the time families are forced to leave everything behind, the warning signs have often been visible for years.
The tragedy is that many of these crises are preventable. Most people have a strong desire to stay in their community and country.
Across the Indo-Pacific, local organisations are demonstrating what prevention looks like.
In Indonesia, community-led disaster programs are helping neighbourhoods prepare for increasingly frequent floods before they become humanitarian emergencies.
In Zimbabwe, communities displaced by Cyclone Idai are rebuilding trust and social cohesion through local peacebuilding initiatives and community sport.
In Runyararo community, teams play soccer, netball and volleyball — bringing together displaced families and host communities that once struggled with tension and division.
Through something as simple as sport, neighbours who were strangers have become teammates. Trust has been rebuilt. A sense of belonging has been restored.
These initiatives rarely make international headlines. Yet they are precisely the kinds of investments that reduce conflict, strengthen resilience and prevent future displacement.
They are investments in what peace researchers call “Positive Peace” — the attitudes, institutions, structures and relationships that allow societies to flourish.
Peace is not merely the absence of conflict. It is the presence of opportunity, trust, justice and inclusion – the presence of just relationships between people, communities and the environment.
Or as Mother Teresa observed:
“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”
Her words are particularly relevant today because peace is not something delivered solely through treaties or military deterrence. It is built every day through relationships, communities, institutions and shared responsibility.
It is built when governments invest in diplomacy and development alongside defence.
When communities’ welcome refugees rather than fear them. And when political leaders have the courage to look beyond the next election and invest in the foundations of peace: education, health, livelihoods, climate resilience, social cohesion and inclusive governance. Peace is not built by accident. It is built when governments make deliberate choices that enable people and communities to thrive, participate and belong.
Australia has an important role to play.
As one of the world’s wealthiest nations and a respected regional partner, Australia has an opportunity to lead courageously.
Recent polling suggests most Australians support maintaining or increasing aid spending, particularly when they understand its role in creating a peaceful, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific.
Australians instinctively understand something many policymakers sometimes forget —helping our neighbours thrive is not charity. A more stable region means stronger economies, safer communities, reduced displacement, fewer humanitarian crises and greater security for everyone.
Future generations will pay the price if we continue down the current path. Previous generations that were forced to sacrifice so much because of war have important lessons to share. What we need now is the political and moral leadership to recognise that peace is not a luxury.
History shows us it is one of the smartest investments we can make. Because every dollar invested in preventing conflict, strengthening communities and building resilience is a dollar invested in a safer and more prosperous future for us all.
And in uncertain times, that may be the most important investment of all.
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