The following are from the CIA's handbook, and are military spendings as of fiscal year 1997/98, 98/99 or just 1998 unless otherwise indicated

Afghanistan: NA
Albania: $60 million
Argentina: $4.6 billion
Australia: $6.9 billion
Bosnia: NA
Brazil: $14.7 billion
Canada: $7.1 billion
China: $12.68 billion (1999) a
Columbia: $4 billion b
Croatia: $950 million (1999)
Cuba: $692 million (1995) c
Egypt: $3.28 billion (FY 1995/96) d
Finland: $1.8 billion
France: $39.831 billion (1997)
Germany: $32.8 billion
Greece: $4.04 billion e
Grenada: NA f
India: $10.012 billion g
Indonesia: $959.7 million
Iran: $5.787 billion
Iraq: $NA h
Isreal: $8.7 billion i
Japan: $42.9 billion
N. Korea: $7 billion (1997) j
S. Korea: $9.9 billion
Kuwait: $2.7035 billion
Lebanon: $445 million (1997)
Libya: NA k
Mexico: $6 billion l
Nepal: $44 million m
Netherlands: $6.604 billion
Nicaragua: $26 million
Pakistan: $2.48 billion
Peru: $913 million n
Phillipines: $995 million
Russia: $NA o
Saudi Arabia:$18.1 billion (1997)
Serbia: $911 million
Sudan: $550 million
Syria: $1 billion p
Taiwan: $7.446 billion
Turkey: $6.737 billion q
UK: $36.7 billion
US: $267.2 billion
Venezuala: $1.1 billion
Vietnam: $650 million

a - China's is assumed to be higher, of course, their GDP is only 4.42 trillion, so they can't exactly be spending a lot.
b - Colombia recieves most of that from the United States.
c - This is an estimate, but their 1998 GDP was 17.3 billion, so they couldn't outspend Brazil without devoting almost everything to the military.
d - Much of this is from the United States.
e - This is an estimate.
f - Well, they may be a threat!!! That 340 million dollar GDP could all be going to the military!!
g - The world's most populous country barely outspends Canada. The US needs to worry about them.
h - Iraq's GDP is $52.3 billion.
i - US puppet state.
j - I took the higher estimate.
k - $38 billion GDP.
l - And they still can't beat the ELZN.
m - And they still can't beat the damn Maoists.
n - And they still can't beat the damn Shining Path.
o - Estimated to be about 6th of wait it was during USSR days.
p - Probably higher.
q - A lot coming from the US, glad to see it's my tax dollars going to murder the Kurds. Huzzah for holocausts!

That should make it a little easier.

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"Here is another word that rhymes with shame" - Kurt Cobain
Blew, Nirvana

"The #1 Military Power. The #18 Education System."
"No Wonder Our Bombs are Smarter than Our Kids."
"The First Row of These Nuclear Warheads Annihilates All Civilization. The Others Destroy Our Schools." (the U.S. has enough nukes to wipe out civilization tens times over)
etc.

"Business Leaders of Education" or something.

It's rather interesting. The U.S.'s funding for military hasn't diminished virtually at all since the Cold War ended. For every dollar of U.S. tax, fifty cents goes to the Pentagon. Six cents go towards education. Scary, huh?

In tests, U.S. students placed 18th in the world (maths and sciences at the right grade level); per capita, the U.S. is the 10th biggest spender on schools ($30 billion total per annum), number one on armed forces ($276 billion total per annum).

If you find these ads, I suggest you read them; they're very convincing and well-argued.

Edit: Typos... Why don't you notice them beforehand?

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Elim Garak: "Oh, it's just Garak. Plain, simple Garak. Now, good day to you, Doctor. I'm so glad to have made such an... interesting new friend today." (DS9: "Past Prologue")

I think we have a rather good educational system. (Except Moose Jaw. We're pretty slow.)

In any case, I think the point stands that the U.S. is still arming itself for the Cold War, when it could better use the billions of dollars elsewhere.

I'm rather pleased the UK and France are so high on the military list; but notice the gap... Their education systems aren't suffering and they're still military powers, second only to their major ally, who is suffering on education fronts, and Japan (unless I missed anyone else on the list)...

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Elim Garak: "Oh, it's just Garak. Plain, simple Garak. Now, good day to you, Doctor. I'm so glad to have made such an... interesting new friend today." (DS9: "Past Prologue")

Is that stat just the national government (which really shouldn't be spending anything at all on education, constitutionally), cause otherwise, I can't get some numbers to quite match up. In New Jersey, it's approaching $9,000 per student, every year! You're telling me that that's not enough money? You can go to a Catholic school for, what, a third of that? You'd probably get a better education, too. More money is not the answer. If two tylenol doesn't get rid of a headache, you don't take four more. There is one main thing that needs to happen to fix our classrooms.

Teachers need to be able to enforce rules and institute dicipline in classrooms. I know a man who teaches at a public school who touched a kid to get his attention. The kid then told his mother that the teacher hit him. The mother came to the school and physically attacked the teacher. The judge told them that they both commited asssault, and decided to "let" them both off. Getting someone's attention is considered assault! If you yell at a kid who's, say, playing a guitar in class, again, you can be sued for assault! Now tell me something isn't wrong there.

Out of curiosity, where is Japan falling in these educational rankings? I've heard that their students are quite similar to ours, and trying to deal with them can incur similar consequences.

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Smithers, do you realize if I had died, there would be no one to carry on my legacy. Due to my hectic schedule and lethargic sperm, I never fathered an heir. Now I have no one to leave my enormous fortune to. No one.
~C. Montgomery Burns

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"Obesity. Adiposity. Corpulence. Whatever word you use, it represents one thing: being a big fatass."

And that just won't work, as we're a pacifistic country, of course.

But the point is, the U.S. can still be "protector of the world" by cutting the Pentagon budget in, say, half or even more! Especially since the UK is next on the list -- their greatest military ally, followed by one of the U.S.'s greatest trade partners, followed by the U.S.'s longest-running military friend! And with a Pentagon budget of still over $120 billion, they'd be twice ahead of the nearest competition.

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Calvin: "No efficiency, no accountability... I tell you, Hobbes, it's a lousy way to run a Universe." -- Bill Watterson

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Calvin: "No efficiency, no accountability... I tell you, Hobbes, it's a lousy way to run a Universe." -- Bill Watterson