You can measure it, but can you understand it?
The index will run into some flak. A country that applied the simple Roman maxim—“if you want peace, prepare for war”—would score badly. By unconditionally endorsing low military budgets and marking down high ones, the index may seem to give heart to freeloaders: countries that enjoy peace precisely because others (often America) care for their defence. Indeed, one of the ideas behind NATO and several other security pacts is that America's protection limits the need for medium-sized powers to be big military players in their own right.
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