The United States has the biggest military across the world by far. It’s no secret that national security is a major priority of the United States, and likewise it is no surprise that a large sum of the national budget goes towards the defense. In 2020, about 766.58 billion dollars were spent on the US military. For comparison purposes, the United State’s military spending accounted for 38% of the military spending across the world in 2019, with the United States spending more on its military than the next 10 countries combined. Nationally, for the 2021 fiscal year, the federal budget for discretionary spending came to a combined 1.6 trillion dollars with a whopping 46.5% of that total going towards the military.
The United States’ high military spending is one that has been in motion for decades as the US rose fairly early on as a dominant military power. After World War II, with the United States facing little geographic damage, it was able to bounce back while many European states were left in ruin and focused on allocating funds towards reconstruction. The United States rather was able to reinforce military capabilities, an action that leveled up on the national priority list in the face of Russia’s rising military and the Cold War. During the Cold War, military spending for both nations rapidly increased as both poured money into physical capabilities as well as invested in the Space Race. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, military spending was reigned in as there were no major threats to prepare against. In 2001, however, with the terrorist attacks on 9/11, national security was once again propelled to the forefront of America’s federal priorities. With the attacks having such widespread affects on the American people as a whole, national support for military spending increased across the board which led to Bush’s names “War on Terror” and billions of dollars going into United States involvement in Afghanistan. Since then, military spending has generally continued to increase across the board.
This increase, however, can not still be explained by competition with United States adversaries in the Middle East, as our military capabilities already easily surpass theirs in size, strength and technology. Rather, new competition has arisen as China’s military has developed over the decade. Recently, China has gained momentum as their public budget continues to increase. In 2019, China’s national defense spending rose by 7.5% and it has continued to increase by similar amounts as the years go by with the 2021 budget amounting to about 209.2 billion dollars. China currently stands behind the United States as the state spending the second highest sum of money on military; though China’s expenditure is still far from the United States’, Chinese intention of continuing to build their military and transform it into one that can rival the United States’ has kept the US on it toes. With China’s rapid rise, not only militarily but overall, as well as the continued perceived threats of former adversaries like Russia, the United States government generally feels justified in continuing to increase its military budget.
Generally speaking, investing in the national military is a good thing and I would argue that to some extent, the United States is justified in keeping national security near the top of its priority list. As the current superpower, the US plays a big role militarily in international affairs across the board. Looking forward, however, I do think that the United States’ decline as the world’s “police force” is inevitable and a readjustment of priorities is due. Going back to the national percentage of the federal discretionary budget going towards the military, 46.5% seems like quite a high portion. What makes this number more concerning is when it is compared to amount of money allocated to other categories, specifically healthcare and education. These are two major areas that the United States continues to fall short in across the board. The United States’ healthcare system is deeply flawed with the costs of healthcare already disproportionately high compared to other countries around the world and such a vast portion of citizens unable to access adequate care. The system’s overall quality and efficiency fail to care for a significant number of Americans. Compared to the 752 billion dollars spent on military in 2021, about 147.4 billion dollars were spent on health. Almost 158 billion dollars were allocated to education, with health and education together not making up even 20% of the federal discretionary budget compared to the military’s 46.5%. Education in the United States is another area the United States should prioritize more highly. Too many school districts across the nation are underfunded and the children affected are disproportionately minority students already facing institutionalized oppression. While there has definitely been progress made over the past couple decades, there is plenty more that can and should be done. These prominent national problems obviously run much deeper than appropriation alone can fix, however with better systems and bringing these issues to the forefront, progress is achievable.
I’m not sure what the answer is, but I do feel like the United States needs to reassess its spending and reconsider its priorities. While a secure, safe nation is obviously a priority, there are multiple internal crises within the United States that the nation has struggled to solve. Considering the direction in which the dynamics of international superpowers seem to be headed, I think it is likely that the United States will reach a point where its internal unresolved problems threaten to reduce its power at a global level, at which point an increased military budget will no longer be enough to maintain its superpower status.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/its-time-to-rein-in-inflated-military-budgets/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/272473/us-military-spending-from-2000-to-2012/#:~:text=In%202020%2C%20the%20United%20States,when%20adjusted%20to%202019%20dollars).
https://www.nationalpriorities.org/budget-basics/federal-budget-101/spending/#:~:text=The%20U.S.%20Treasury%20divides%20all,programs%20on%20which%20we%20rely.
https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2020/01/why-does-us-spend-so-much-defense/162657/
https://www.csis.org/analysis/understanding-chinas-2021-defense-budget