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February 17, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

Plus forte hausse depuis dix ans pour les dépenses militaires mondiales

(Munich) Les dépenses militaires mondiales ont connu l'an dernier leur hausse la plus élevée depuis dix ans, sur fond de rivalités croissantes et de ce que le chef de l'État allemand a qualifié de « dynamique destructrice » au plan mondial.

La progression a atteint au total 4 %, selon le rapport annuel de l'institut IISS publié vendredi peu avant le début de la Conférence sur la sécurité de Munich.

En ouverture de cette grand-messe annuelle internationale sur les questions de défense, le président allemand Frank-Walter Steinmeier a planté le décor.

« Année après année, nous nous éloignons de l'objectif d'une coopération internationale visant à créer un monde pacifique », a-t-il regretté.

La « compétition des grandes puissances » gagne « toute la planète », a dit le président allemand, en critiquant l'égoïsme national répandu à ses yeux par les États-Unis de Donald Trump qui refusent « l'idée même d'une communauté internationale » .

«Course aux armements»

« Le monde ne peut pas se permettre une course aux armements », lui a fait écho la présidente démocrate de la Chambre des représentants, Nancy Pelosi, parlant d'« érosion préoccupante des cadres pour le contrôle qui ont rendu le monde sûr pendant des décennies ».

Les dépenses militaires « ont augmenté avec la sortie des économies de la crise financière (de 2008) et sous l'effet d'une perception accrue des menaces », a relevé le directeur général de l'Institut international d'études stratégiques (IISS, International Institute for Strategic Studies).

La mort du traité FNI sur les forces nucléaires intermédiaires (portée de 500 à 5500 km) en 2019 et l'extinction potentielle du traité New Start sur les armes nucléaires intercontinentales en 2021 bouscule l'ordre international post-Guerre froide, tout comme la montée en puissance de la Chine ainsi qu'une série de crises régionales, de l'Ukraine à la Libye.

Dans un tel contexte, les deux plus gros budgets militaires mondiaux, ceux des États-Unis (685 milliards de dollars) et de la Chine (181 milliards), poursuivent leur croissance exponentielle, avec une hausse de 6,6 % dans les deux pays en 2019 par rapport à 2018.

Les dépenses américaines ont augmenté à elles seules de 53,4 milliards de dollars l'an dernier, soit l'équivalent du septième budget mondial de la défense, après ceux de l'Arabie saoudite (3e), de la Russie (4e), mais avant ceux de la France (8e).

« En Europe, les inquiétudes liées à la Russie continuent d'alimenter la croissance des dépenses avec une hausse de 4,2 % par rapport à 2018 », pointe également John Chipman.

L'accroissement massif des capacités militaires chinoises est une source majeure d'inquiétude aux États-Unis comme auprès de leurs partenaires en Asie-Pacifique.

La Chine s'est aussi lancée, comme la Russie, dans le développement d'armes hypersoniques susceptibles de déjouer les défenses antimissiles adverses, met en garde l'institut londonien.

L'armée russe a annoncé en décembre la mise en service de ses premiers missiles hypersoniques Avangard, l'une des nouvelles armes vantées par le président Vladimir Poutine comme « invincibles » et « indétectables ».

Europe bousculée

En Europe, les interrogations grandissent devant le risque de désengagement des États-Unis, de plus en plus centrés sur l'Asie-Pacifique, même si ces derniers ont renforcé pour l'heure leur présence militaire dans l'est du continent face à la Russie, tout comme dans le Golfe face aux menaces iraniennes.

Les pays membres de l'OTAN, Allemagne en tête, sont aussi budgétairement sous la pression du président américain Donald Trump qui leur réclame un effort plus massif pour arriver à l'objectif de dépenses égales à 2 % du PIB.

Après Donald Trump en 2018, le président français Emmanuel Macron a en outre « semblé jeter le doute » à son tour sur l'engagement de solidarité collective au sein de l'Alliance en cas d'agression de l'un de ses membres, rappelle l'ISS.

Il a aussi ébranlé ses partenaires en estimant l'OTAN en état de « mort cérébrale ». « Deux des trois puissances nucléaires de l'Alliance (la troisième étant le Royaume-Uni) ont ainsi semé l'incertitude sur cette question clé de la sécurité collective », souligne John Chipman.

https://www.lapresse.ca/international/202002/14/01-5261007-plus-forte-hausse-depuis-dix-ans-pour-les-depenses-militaires-mondiales.php

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