[vkou]

Finland and South Korea both have more, per capita, military then Cuba. Closely followed by Mongolia, Singapore, Armenia, Taiwan, and Israel.

I think this has more to do with being within spitting distance of much larger, potentially belligerent neighbours.

[sonnyblarney]

I don't see how your measure is useful at all in this reference.

%GDP spending in those countries are small.

In Cuba the military literally runs the economy. Many of the hotels you stay in are operated by the Army. Any of the remaining bits of 'free' economy are all dependent on the military state.

This is not even remotely the case in any of the nations you listed.

[bilbo0s]

"... In Cuba the military literally runs the economy. Many of the hotels you stay in are operated by the Army..."

???

This is just not true. The hotels are run by the party, usually in partnership with some European nation depending on which one you stay at. And believe you me, the Party ain't talking about "sharing" with ANYBODY. Army or No Army.

Now of course this is in the process of changing. Naturally the constitutional reforms will give private citizens some ownership in business, but the Party will still essentially "own" 51% of everything. (And to be perfectly frank, my own bet is that the party isn't going to allow private ownership in the big hotels by anyone else anyway. They don't care if you're the Army, the people, or even the doctors.)

Generals, are just as broke as everyone else in Cuba.

Now...

if you want to talk about where the money is...

let's talk about the jinateras. (Sorry if that offends anyone, I'm just being real about what it's like in Cuba.)

[sonnyblarney]

See my note above. The hotels are owned by GAESA which is a wing of the military.