How come big military spenders like Russia and China lack the ability to project power around the world?

High military spenders like Sudan, Mauritania, Peru and Vietnam were among the first countries to default on their debt.

This year, the index focuses on big military spenders.

France spends 2.6 percent of its gross domestic product on military expenses, but the three other nations at today's meeting are among the lowest military spenders in Europe.

At 4.7% of GDP, the rate was the second-highest among the top fifteen military spenders, after Saudi Arabia.

However 1 per cent of a very large and expanding GNP produces a significant total, making Japan the world's ninth biggest military spender.

Even in the late 1980's, as Japan emerged as one of the biggest military spenders in the world, it never ventured far beyond the 1 percent line.

Saudi Arabia is another notable military spender of recent times and now ranks 7th.

Just as the nation has emerged as the world's third-largest military spender, its primary mission - defending against a Soviet invasion - seems increasingly improbable.

The 2012 budget is 6-7 times larger than the $106 billion military budget of China, and is more than the next twenty largest military spenders combined.