The Cost of War, the Price of Imagination:

For most of human history, war has been treated as an inevitability — a constant rhythm in the story of civilisation. Nations have built identities around militaries; economies have been sculpted by conflict; and entire generations have grown up assuming that defence, deterrence, and the machinery of war are simply the price of existing on this planet.

But step back — really step back — and you see something different.
War is not a law of nature. War is an idea.

Just like exploration is an idea.
Just like progress is an idea.
And humanity has changed its dominant ideas before.

This is the lens through which we should examine today’s global spending — the trillions we devote to conflict compared to the relatively modest investments we make in space, science, and exploration. Because the numbers themselves tell a story about what ideas dominate our civilisation — and what could happen if those ideas shift.

The World’s Spending Speaks: We’re Still Investing in Yesterday’s Ideas

According to the latest global data, humanity spent US $2.7 trillion on its militaries in 2024. That is the largest annual military outlay ever recorded. Europe alone spent nearly US $700 billion — driven largely by the Russia–Ukraine war, which has reshaped European security and forced governments to re-arm at levels not seen since the Cold War.

In Ukraine the numbers are heartbreaking: the country spent 34% of its GDP on defence in 2024 — the highest proportion of any nation on Earth. The war is real; the suffering is real; the defence imperative is real. Yet the underlying truth remains: war consumes resources at a scale no other human activity comes close to.

War is an idea — and it is currently the most expensive idea humanity has.

Meanwhile, Space — A Future-Shaping Idea — Gets a Fraction of That

Now compare that with how much the world spent on space exploration and space technology:

• US $135 billion in total government space budgets (civil + military).

• Only half of that — barely $60–70 billion — was spent on science, exploration, Earth observation, and long-term space development.

• The entire global space economy, including private companies, satellites, launch, telecom, and services, amounted to US $613 billion — still less than a quarter of what we spend on defence.

We spend far more on weapons than on the tools that might extend human civilisation, protect us from planetary threats, or unlock innovations that transform life on Earth.

Not because we have to.
But because our shared idea of what matters hasn’t fully shifted.

War vs. Exploration: Competing Ideas for Humanity’s Future

When we compare defence spending and space spending, we’re not just comparing budgets — we’re comparing visions of the future.

War is rooted in the idea of scarcity
— scarce land, scarce safety, scarce power, scarce trust.

Exploration is rooted in the idea of possibility
— new worlds, new knowledge, new resources, new modes of living.

War contracts the future.
Exploration expands it.

And humanity has always had both impulses. The question is which idea dominates.

Right now, the numbers tell us: the world is still committed to the idea of conflict.
But that idea has shifted before — radically — and it can shift again.

A Pivot Is Possible — Because It Has Happened Before

History offers moments where humanity changed direction because a new idea took hold:

• The idea of science over superstition.

• The idea of democracy over monarchy.

• The idea of global cooperation after WWII (UN, ESA, the International Space Station).

• The idea of the internet — a network built not for armies, but for knowledge-sharing.

Ideas can rewrite budgets.
Ideas can redirect nations.
Ideas can alter the arc of civilisation.

If war is an idea, then peace is an idea.
If conflict is a choice, then exploration can be a choice.
What humanity funds reflects what humanity imagines.

The Ukraine War: A Reminder of the Cost of Staying in the Old Idea

The war in Ukraine shows us the real human cost of conflict — but also its economic gravity. The surge in defence spending across Europe and beyond is a rational response to an immediate threat. But it also locks nations into an older organising principle: that safety comes from armament rather than innovation, cooperation, and the expansion of humanity’s horizons.

This isn’t an argument against defence — it’s an argument for balance, vision, and long-term strategy.

Imagine a world where even 10% of global military spending was redirected to:

• space exploration

• asteroid resource mapping

• climate monitoring

• planetary-defence systems

• off-world habitat engineering

• lunar/Martian infrastructure for science and industry

That would be US $270 billion per year — enough to create an entire new global economy, accelerate interplanetary science, and possibly redefine life on Earth.

The resources exist.
The barrier is the idea.

A Future Defined by a Different Idea

Humanity doesn’t have to choose conflict as its primary organising principle. It can choose curiosity. It can choose exploration. It can choose to build rather than destroy.

The same civilisation that spends trillions on war also sent robots to Mars, built a space station the size of a football field, discovered thousands of exoplanets, and is now building commercial habitats in orbit.

The potential is already there — the idea just hasn’t reached global dominance yet.

War and exploration are both products of the human mind.
Both are stories we tell ourselves about who we are.

If the world ever decides that exploration — not conflict — is the defining idea of our century, the pivot could happen faster than anyone expects. Budget lines would shift. National strategies would change. Public imagination would realign. And the resources we already possess would unlock a new era for humanity.

A civilisation guided by war looks inward and fractures.
A civilisation guided by exploration looks outward and unites.

The difference is just an idea, and ideas can change.