The current environment of our societies has increased their uncertainty, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic and, more recently, with the armed conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza. Numerous national governments’ concerns about this situation have led them to promote increased defense spending in their budgets, and international organizations are interested in developing specific studies to measure security and quantify its effects on the population. The main objective of this research is to demonstrate the effect of defense spending on societies’ human development capabilities. A panel data model is estimated in a sample of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member countries for the period from 2020 to 2022, where the Human Development Index is established as a function of per capita defense spending and the Societal Safety and Security indicator. The results demonstrate that an increase in defense budgets not only affects defense programs and security conditions but also enhances human development capabilities.
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