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Essay debate on us military spending
Essay debate on us military spending
US military spending essay
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Firstly, the opposers of the current military spending claim that a big part of the US defence spending goes on foreign countries rather than United States itself. They assert that the allegiance on several alliance including NATO and UN has cost USA huge sum of money. That has lead the opposers of excessive military spending raise their voices even for US to pull out of NATO. One of the several opposers of US spending on foreign military aid, even President Donald J Trump has raised his voice against US spending on NATO. Showing out the fact that US spends $664 billion of $918 billion, he said, “ Member nations are still not paying what they should be paying,This is not fair to the people and taxpayers of the United States”(Kottasová ). The
In this paper I will first explain the history of NATO and the United States policy towards it. I will then give three reasonable policy recommendations for the United States towards NATO. This is important because NATO is an organization with a very brief history but it has molded Europe and other countries and has made a safe-haven from war for the past five decades. NATO was spawn out of the Western countries of Europe fearing the expansion of the greedy, hungry Stalin of the Soviet Union which would directly lead to the expansion of communist governments. Also, “in 1949 most of the states of Europe were still enfeebled by wartime devastation, striving for economic recovery, attempting to reestablish shattered political institutions, resettle refugees and recover from the second major upheaval in 30 years.”1 After the second world war Stalin, of the Soviet Union, started to spread his communist government to many Eastern European countries fast. Just a couple years before all of this an alliance was made between many nations called The United Nations. This is where the base idea of NATO came out of. There is a particular article in the United Nation’s charter, article 51, which paved the way. Article 51 read: Nothing in the present charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a member of the United Nations, until the security council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security. Measures taken by Members in the exercise of this right of self-defense shall be immediately reported to the Security Council and shall not in any way affect the authority and responsibility of the Security Council under the present Charter to take at any time such action as it deems necessary in order to maintain or restore international peace and security.2 So, armed with this article, ten European countries turned to the United States and Canada to draft a pledge of mutual security and on April 4, 1949, they all met in Washington to sign the North Atlantic Treaty. The fear that created this alliance could not better be seen than in Winston Churchill’s, prime minister of Great Britain, telegram to President Truman saying: “An iron curtain is being drawn down upon their(Soviet Union) front. We do not know what is going on ...
The U.S. Military is a proud institution, on which we as a nation rely on, just as it relies on the funding and directing of the United States Congress. However, when compared to the rest of the world, the United States consistently outspends other countries on Military/Defense spending. So much so that the National Priorities Project (NPP) states that in 2013 “America spent 37% of the world’s total military spending. ” They go on to say that in 2015 “military spending (was) projected to account for 54% of all federal discretionary spending” which equates to about 600 billion dollars in federal spending towards defense and military.
The U.S budget deficit over the years has been a problem but lately the deficit has shrunk. However, what made the U.S budget deficit get to where it is today and what will it be like in the years to come. Throughout the past the U.S has operated under a deficit. This means that the U.S Spent more money than it was taking in. The cause of the excess in spending was different depending on which year. Some of the causes were war, increase in spending , and economic downturns. There were different acts passed to try and control the deficit problem. The deficit at the present time is declining. This decline is due to the improving economy, sequester, and a tax increase on high-income households. The big factor that went into the decline in the deficit for 2013 was the payment that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac made. The deficit decline in the present time may make some think the U.S could get out of debt but it has been projected that the U.S deficit will start to increase once again.
In an article, it explains that “The State Department’s Military Assistance Report on June 8 stated that it approved $44.28 billion in arms shipments to 173 nations in the last fiscal year, including some that struggled with human rights problems. These nations include the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Israel, Djibouti, Honduras, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain” (Toombs 1). These nations are where ISIS originated from. This is more than likely the reason why there are so many terrorist in the Middle East who are able to do so much damage. By giving these terrorist weapons, we are giving them weapons to kill our people. It makes no sense for the United States to provide weapons to countries who are using them to cause terrorists acts within their own country and other countries as well. If the United States stops providing these people with weapons to kill, we would not have such a problem with terrorists. Also, if we are able to increase our security even more so. Things like “congress federal(izing) airport security by passing the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, which created the Transportation Security Administration” (Villemez 2). We can increase security in our own home by providing funds to the military. They will technologically advance our security through various ways. They have always been making newer and different inventions that prevent future possible terrorist attacks. We can fund the military financially
In addition to strategic deployment, the defense budget should be reformed to allocate more money towards specialized, agile units and counterterrorism efforts. By doing so, the United States would be more efficient in fighting the small terrorist groups that pose such a large threat today. In his article supporting defense reform, Berger points out, “many analysts have pointed out in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks, future threats to the United States are likely to come from relatively small terrorist organizations and not from state entities which could not realistically defeat us.” The most prevalent danger regarding military within the continental U.S. is not an invasion by another nation, but rather unexpected acts of terror.
The draft is something young men fear and crave. Some fear they will lose everything, die or just not be the same if they get picked. I have met young men who cannot be in the military due to family issues, so the draft would come as a blessing. The draft is also very random, so both of those boys' chances of getting picked is also very slim. The draft reminds me of The Reaping from The Hunger Games, we pick your name out of a bowl and the magic of selection will decide if you go or not. Then your skill set will determine how long you live in battle. May the odds be ever in your favor, and don't forget that you're and accountant and have no hand-eye coordination! There are plenty of volunteers in America that will gladly serve our country if we need more soldiers, I personally think the wars have past their expiration date, and there are other jobs people can do
Manfred, T. (2013, September 5). Two Charts that show how Badly NFL Players Get Paid . Retrieved November 16, 2017, from businessinsider: http://www.businessinsider.com/charts-expose-how-badly-nfl-players-get-paid-2013-9
Nowadays, countries are so advanced and have powerful allies. Shifting some funding to ensure that U.S. soldiers are getting efficient training and equipment does not mean the United States of America is looking for a fight, it means that the U.S. is trying to be prepared for a fight if our country is attacked. The U.S. is only trying to give our country a fighting chance against other countries and when we are ahead of other countries in training, weapons, ect. we will try and stay ahead of others to ensure the safety of the United States of America. President Donald J. Trump’s executive order “Rebuilding the U.S. Armed Forces” is literally militarism in itself but is very necessary and essential for the United States of America’s critical
The author doesn’t forget to mention the relationship between USA and NATO. He thinks that Americans welcome NATO as a weapon for America’s affairs, not of the world’s. In his final words, it is suggested that either Europe should invite USA to leave NATO or Europe should expel America from it.
Over the decades there have been numerous occasions in which the US has used its Armed Forces abroad in situations of military conflict or conflicts with or without the support of the people. US needs to fully explore all existing national-level policies and other options prior to the involving of our Military forces.
A mercenary is a person, usually a former soldier, who gives up his services to foreign nations for money. Over centuries of fighting, mercenaries have been used by nations to fight their wars. The Ancient Greeks, Romans, Medieval kingdoms, Papal States, and all the way up to the modern United States. Mercenaries are the key to war for many nations, around the world. That is why United States and other nations who are fighting against terrorism are better off using mercenaries.
As many budget cuts occur on the governmental level for myriad of reasons, public education can begin to suffer. As this has started to happen with the trillions of dollars of debt accrued by the United States Government many schools have had to cut non-academic classes from their curriculum to correct for the lack of funds. Some of the classes cut due to these funding cuts are vocational classes such as home economics, cooking, wood/metal shop classes, drivers education, and other such trade education. This lack of vocational education is leading to less rounded citizens coming out of public education. I do not personally believe that funding cuts to public education is ever necessary, if anything we should add funds to public schools as an investment in the future of the country by raising the literacy and overall competency of the average citizen. Of all the ways to solve this problem I decided that vocational school or vocational course integration are the best solutions. Though I lean toward vocational course integration I will address the pros and cons of both approaches to this issue.
Joint Publication 1(JP 1) define Joint concepts as “examine military problems and propose solutions describing how the joint force, using military art and science, may operate to achieve strategic goals within the context of the anticipated future security environment. Joint concepts lead to military capabilities, both non-materiel and materiel, that significantly improve the ability of the joint force to overcome future challenges.” For future challenges, we can find some clues form the National Military Strategy of USA (NMS2015). The potential challenges include four plus one (Russia, Iran, North Korea and China plus violent extremist organizations (VEOs)) . It is an unprecedented strategic environment which need to fight different type
Our country operates under a complex civ-mil relation between two different sides of the government: a civilian sector and a military sector. While Dr. Peter Feaver argues the civilian sector should gain more control over the military, an extreme push to that idea may be detrimental to our government. It is important for the military personnel to enjoy some degree of freedom from the civilian counterparts when in an operation, but a complete disregard of the politicians and their expectations and directions may also be critical to the functioning of our government. It is, therefore, crucial to determine and shape the proper balance between two sides of the government rather than empowering one side too much.
In “The U.S. Global Military Empire”, Michael Parenti talks about how the U.S. military has become a primary focus for our nation, even above education. The government continues to pour millions of dollars into our military, even after wars such as the Cold War ends, since America has now taken on the unofficial role of the ‘worlds police’. The funding has extended beyond our military forces to private contractors. There contractors cost much more, and are far less effective, however, the reason they are used is to bypass the protocols and policies that comes with a military strike.