Essay Example on Belgium Military Budget: 2010-2018 Analysis

Belgium defense budget incorporates all existing and capital budgets on the armed forces, military wings, diplomacy forces, and state organizations undertaking defense projects. The budget also covers retirement benefits of military workers, procurement of equipment's, military research and development, operation and maintenance, and their social services in Belgium ("Peacekeeping Contributor Profile: Belgium | Providing for Peacekeeping", 2019). In the last twenty years, Belgium's contribution of its troops to UN peacekeeping duties was high during the early 1990s and mid-2000s in both Balkans and Africa. However what made the number of troops being offered to UN peacekeeping missions to dip low is the assassination and mutilation of Belgium troops while they were performing their roles for UNAMIR ("Peacekeeping Contributor Profile: Belgium | Providing for Peacekeeping", 2019). The situation made the government withdraw its troops its troop and the issue really made the genocide incident in Rwanda to escalate even further and proved a challenge to bring an end to the gloomy situation.

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Belgian's public opinion about sending peacekeepers abroad is remarkably characterized by its catastrophic experience in Rwanda, Bosnia, and Somalia. A survey conducted by the PULSE indicates that the public is concerned by the negative experience of the military during their participation in missions abroad (Woodward, 2009). Leaders at the same time are ready to evacuate their citizens and expatriate employees. However, the UN, NATO, and the U.S. promise support for development something that citizens have little knowledge. The public is, therefore, resisting on large scale involvement of Belgium peacekeepers abroad. At the same time, sections of the military are skeptical about the UN robust peacekeeping missions.

Public opinions have an effect on the decision of sending peacekeepers abroad. According to Woodward (2009), Belgium pays continuous attention to the opinions of the public. However, a major decision is made by the political institutions but they are forced to listen to the citizens to avoid barriers such as difficult domestic politics, alternative institutional preferences, and resistance from the military. For instance, if the public will develop negative perception and strategic thinking in relation to peacekeeping, they will remain a syndrome to the government and relevant authorities. They are, therefore, fulfilling the decision to concentrate their aid in fewer and poor countries to avoid more genocides. In the same approach, Belgium is focusing on issues that are of importance to its country. This means that it is extricating its peacekeeping mission to a minimum honor to avoid committing public resources to a crisis. In a similar approach, the administration is concentrating its contingent capital to development issues and protecting the country. There is a decentralized system in decision making, which takes the views of the public into account.

References

Belgium Military Expenditure | 2019 | Data | Chart | Calendar | Forecast. (2019). Retrieved from https://tradingeconomics.com/belgium/military-expenditure

Belgium Military Expenditure Percent Of Gdp. (2019). Retrieved from https://tradingeconomics.com/belgium/military-expenditure-percent-of-gdp-wb-data.html

Peacekeeping Contributor Profile: Belgium | Providing for Peacekeeping. (2019). Retrieved from http://www.providingforpeacekeeping.org/2014/04/03/contributor-profile-belgium

Woodward, R. (2009). The organization for economic co-operation and development (OECD). Routledge.