In 2009 Obama budgeted an unprecedented 534 billion dollars for US armament; the biggest investment in arms since the Second World War. At the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute they have also observed in China, "A significant modernization of weapon systems, designed to demonstrate that it is a major military power as well as an economic power." As these superpowers flex their muscles, their neighbours are racing to keep up. The last two years have seen conflicts in several continents, all fuelled by considerable weapons imports. Yet as a SIPRI expert notes, "The biggest problem we have is not the weapons purchases themselves but the atmosphere in which they are taking place. There is big mistrust and virtually no transparency, and in that there lies the real danger. "