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Angola War and the Military in National Perspective
Perpetual war magnified and multiplied the social and
economic
impact of defense spending. Military expenditures and arms
imports
were the most obvious indicators of the intensified war
effort.
Luanda's defense spending nearly quadrupled from US$343
million in
1978 to US$1.3 billion in 1986 (in constant 1980 dollars),
the bulk
of that increase coming after 1983. In 1986 defense
accounted for
40.4 percent of government expenditures. Military
expenditure as a
percentage of the gross national product
(GNP--see Glossary),
estimated at 12 percent to 14 percent from 1980 to 1982,
rose
steadily to 28.5 percent by 1985.
Arms imports also increased dramatically. Measured in
constant
1984 dollars, the value of arms imports nearly doubled
after 1980.
During the late 1970s, arms deliveries remained relatively
constant
at a bit more than US$500 million per year, but after 1980
they
surged to an annual average of more than US$1 billion.
Since the
1970s, Angola's arms imports had ranged between 45 percent
and 88
percent of total imports. In mid-1988 Angolan government
officials
estimated the country's external debt at US$4 billion,
most of
which was owed to the Soviet Union for military purchases,
and they
were considering the possibility of imposing a compulsory
public
loan to cover revenue requirements.
Angola's heavy defense burden was evident by
comparative
standards as well. According to 1985 statistics published
by ACDA,
Angola ranked sixty-third of 144 countries in both
military
expenditure and size of its armed forces. These absolute
measures
of military effort were consistent with Angola's ranking
of between
sixty-eight and seventy-three in GNP, central government
expenditures, and population. However, the militarizing
effects
were seen more clearly and dramatically in relative
measures of
defense effort: Angola ranked seventeenth in level of arms
imports
and sixth in arms imports as a percentage of total
imports, twentysixth in military expenditure as a percentage of GNP,
thirty-second
in military expenditure as a percentage of the
government's budget,
fiftieth in military expenditure per capita, and
fifty-seventh in
military expenditure relative to the size of the armed
forces. The
continued growth of the armed forces, military
expenditures, and
arms imports into the late 1980s further increased the
burden of
defense and ensured that few resources would be left for
social and
economic development.
Not only did the armed forces command and consume an
enormous
share of national wealth and revenue, their increased
political
power was institutionalized at every level of government.
The
defense and security forces were heavily represented in
the highest
organs of the party and government; indeed, the exigencies
of war
virtually transformed the integrated party-government
system into
a military machine dedicated to prosecuting war at an
increasingly
higher price. The reorganization of the territorial
administration
into military regions and provincial defense councils
carried the
process even further. It remained to be seen whether the
December
1988 regional accords--which excluded UNITA--would result
in a
reversal of the process.
Data as of February 1989
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