The Military Balance 1999-2000

The IISS have been publishing this annual for many years and it has become theauthoritative reference work for data on world armed forces*. It consists mainly ofcomprehensive listings of the orders of battle of each nation's armed forces. Data includesnumbers, types of platforms, command and organisational sturctures. Commentary is alsoprovided for each of the major regions that the work is divided into i.e.the United States,NATO-Europe, Non-NATO Europe, Asia, etc. These sections are chiefly concerned with defence procurement issues. For more in depth analysis of strategic and geopolitical issues one should look at thecompanion annual Strategic Survey which is also published by the Institute.*Jane's publish more detailed annuals separately for Navies, Air Forces etc butThe Military Balance is the best overview in a single volume.

While the price is high for such a small book, the information you get is well worth it. With this title you get all the information on units of the world's militaries, including defense budgets and where units are deployed. I did expect however that more information could be covered, such as for example they list bases and flight hours for some countries, but not all. This is well up to date, 4th quarter 2000. NOTE: I haven't seen any book as organized as this one - though I'm sure Jane's would have one, but probably for a few hundred to almost a thousdand dollars for it.