A dangerous new “arms race” is underway in the developing world, a top defense think tank has said, with global arms sales soaring in the past five years.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (sipri) will release an annual report Monday detailing the huge sums that have gone into building up armaments in recent years, particularly combat aircraft, in unstable areas of the world. Global arms sales increased by a massive 22 percent in the period from 2005 to 2009 as compared to 2000 to 2004. A large proportion of this increase is due to a new arms race among developing, resource-rich nations, according to sipri.

Referring to imports of combat aircraft, which accounted for just over a quarter of arms sales in the past five years, it said, “Orders and deliveries of these potentially destabilizing weapon systems have led to arms race concerns in the following regions of tension: the Middle East, North Africa, South America, South Asia and Southeast Asia.”

The lead expert contributing to the report, Paul Holtom, says that resource-rich countries were sparking competition by using their wealth to build up their combat aircraft fleets. “Neighboring rivals have reacted to these acquisitions with orders of their own,” he said.

In South America, arms imports were 150 percent higher than a decade ago. Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia also saw dramatic increases. “The current wave of South East Asian acquisitions could destabilize the region, jeopardizing decades of peace,” said sipri Asia expert Siemon Wezeman.

Some North African nations are also massive arms importers, with Algeria making it into the top 10.

Back in 2003, the Trumpet wrote about how fear was fueling a new global arms race that wasn’t limited to the historic arms race between the major powers of the world. “Nations are building up their militaries, filling their arsenals and modernizing their weapons, as the world hurtles toward greater instability,” we wrote.

In that article, we pointed out that in this new arms race, dangerous weapons were falling into the hands of unstable regimes more than ever before—a trend this latest report confirms. This development extends beyond conventional weapons to the nuclear, chemical and biological arena as well. We wrote:

Truly, more than at any other time in history, the dramatic scene described in the book of Joel comes clearly into perspective: “Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong” (Joel 3:10).Notice that the prophecy describes two main points: First, a nation that possesses plowshares could turn those peaceful tools into awesome implements of war. This is describing an explosive growth in armaments. Second, the prophecy speaks of weak nations proclaiming themselves to be strong. The state of modern nations and the present new arms race parallels the prophecy of Joel exactly.

Read “Arming for Armageddon” to learn where today’s global arms race is leading—and how it will end.