Estonia is fairly high up on the list of countries that are the most militarized, according to a German index.
According to the World Militarization Index, Estonia was 35th, clearly more militarized than the other two Baltic states. Finland was 27th. All of the countries in the Middle East appear in the top 40; Iran is 34th, for instance.
The index takes into account not just budget or military prowess but also factors in population - thus the US comes in 30th and not first as it would on budget alone. In a nutshell, the index shows how important a state considers its fighting ability to be in light of its limited resources.
Back in 2000, Estonia placed 65th with Latvia in 90th and Lithuania in 78th. By 2009, the countries were 37th, 78th and 52nd, respectively. Latvia is now back in 90th while Lithuania has dropped to 60th.
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