Strategy Page Updates Military Forces Database

One of my favorite online military news resources, Strategy Page, has updated their online military forces database. Here are a few snippets of their observations:

European Nations are still dominated by Russia. Despite the sharp (about 80 percent) decline in the Russian military in the 1990s, this still left them with the most powerful combat force in Europe. That's largely because most European also cut their military spending, and manpower, in the 1990s. Russia is much less of a military threat to Europe, than it was during the Cold War, because their ground forces now largely consist of paramilitary troops, and army combat units that are no longer trained for offensive warfare. Russia can still invade neighbors, as it recently did in Georgia, but that was done with one mechanized infantry division, and another division worth of local militias and paramilitary troops.

Middle East Nations are still dominated by Israel. The third ranking nation, Iran, is powerful more because of the large number of men in uniform. Their weapons and equipment are in poor shape and largely obsolete. Because of Israel's dominating land combat power, many Middle Eastern nations spend a lot of money on ballistic missiles. These would be the only weapons they would have a chance of doing any damage to Israel with.

American Nations are still dominated by the United States. Because of decades of combat, and recent upgrades in training and equipment, the number two power is Colombia. Brazil is close behind, because it is the largest nation in South America, and has a large and well equipped military.
East Asian Nations are, as usual, dominated by China. But number two is South Korea, which has greatly increased its combat power over the last two decades, as its booming economy enabled it to equip the troops with the most modern weapons. Meanwhile, it's nemesis for the past half century, North Korea, has declined because of a collapsing economy and inept communist dictatorship.

African Nations have a strange lineup. The two top military powers, Ethiopia and Eritrea, have been at war with neighboring Eritrea for a decade. There has been a ceasefire for the last eight years, but not a demobilization. The number three power is South Africa, which is the best equipped, trained and led on the continent.

South Asian Nations are, as always, dominated by India. Pakistan is a distant second.

Source: Strategy Page
Link: Database