Military buildup

Is it me or does anyone else feel there is a huge global military buildup going on. There seems to be somekind of global madness effecting our thinking, the UK is building two Aircraft carriers plus a small flotilla of Submarines, which in truth we can't afford. Russia, China, India, all seem to be busy building or launching warships. Canada and Australia also seem to be concerned about how seaworthy their boats are, and it looks like the pressure is on to build or buy new ones, but why and where is this pressure coming from, who's applying it and why.