“Every dollar spent on war is a dollar stolen from education, health, and climate resilience,” warned UN Secretary-General António Guterres. These are not empty words – they are a desperate plea from the head of the world’s highest multilateral institution. Yet, the world continues to squander trillions, not for safety, survival, or human progress, but for destruction and death.

Despite the blood-soaked history of the 20th and 21st centuries, the global obsession with militarism persists. Governments funnel precious resources into weapons of war, dragging their economies deeper into crisis while starving critical social sectors – education, health, clean water, and climate action.

We stand at a dangerous crossroads. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) reports that global military expenditure reached a record USD 2,718 billion in 2024 – the most rapid rise in any single year since the Cold War. This surge comes amid escalating humanitarian crises, worsening climate disasters, and widespread poverty. The UN warns this trend directly undermines progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The contrast is horrifying: over 700 million people live in extreme poverty, More than 800 million suffer from chronic hunger, and nearly 10 percent of the world’s population goes to bed hungry. Diseases flourish where clinics do not exist, and children die for lack of clean water – while drones worth........

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