Why is the United States’ defense budget so high? Is there a reason as to why we need to spend so much money our nation’s armed forces? In 2009, Robert Gates, the US Defense Secretary reported that the defense budget was set at $534bn[i], while China, the nation with the world’s second highest defense budget was set for about $170.2bn in that same year.[ii] Why is it necessary to spend more than three times as much money on the military when China is currently our ally?
The United States has always been a nation driven by war. There are very few times in our nation’s history when we have not been in a war, whether it was declared or not. This nation was founded after the Revolutionary War, and in our small 200+ years of statehood we’ve fought in the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the U.S. Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and most recently the War on Terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan. We are almost constantly defending ourselves and our allies, and that has gained us power and influence in the international community. By constantly being a nation that helps win wars, the international community looks to us to help spread peace and democracy to the world.
The United States is proud to help bring democracy to nations that want it. We helped South Korea retain its democracy in the early 1950s, and in the early 1970s helped Vietnam avoid being taken over by Chinese communism. The United States has never needed to defend its territory from our neighbors, so we help other less powerful nations defend themselves against theirs.
Currently the US is seen as arguably the most powerful nation in the world. We are also beginning to worry that this status as the hegemon of the world will soon go to China, our only current challenger. Our military is one way we can ensure that our power is never overthrown. The United States keeps increasing its defense budget to send a message that we will not be taken over. Even in our current economic status, the United States is determined to keep up its reputation as the most powerful country militarily.
This relates to the Security Dilemma that we discussed with realist theory. The United States keeps increasing its military forces because other nations are gaining military power through new forms of technology like military droids and nuclear missiles. Former President Bush had big plans to install a system of missile defense systems in Europe as well as within the United States in an attempt to defend ourselves from any missile attacks. The US was feeling threatened by countries like North Korea and Iran who were supposedly making nuclear missiles with the intent to use them against the United States. There was lots of discussion about President Bush’s plan to build missile defense systems in Poland and the Czech Republic because Russia felt threatened by this defensive move. Even though these systems were built with the intent to protect the United States and not to attack any other nation, Russia still felt like it was a sign of aggression or a sign that the US thought Russia was going to attack us.
In more recent news, China is feeling threatened by the presence of US military in the Asia-Pacific Region. They also feel that the US is becoming more aggressive and engaging in more operations meant to hurt China, in particular, the fact that the US is selling weapons to Taiwan, a territory that, to most nations is seen as an independent state, but to China still belongs to Beijing. While China is feeling threatened by US forces, the United States, and some neighboring countries of China, are also feeling threatened by the increase in China’s military technology. They are concerned as to why China feels the need to modernize their armed forces, and what this could signal about their plans in the future.[iii]
While the United States spends the most on military technology, China currently has the largest army with over 1.25 million soldiers. They are currently trying to modernize and grow their regional armed forces with the intent of securing Taiwan as a Chinese province. The United States fears; however, that these short range missiles could be used against US aircraft carriers in the area as well. In the annual report entitled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2011.”, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia remarked that the fear Americans had about China’s military buildup was caused by a lack of transparency as well as by legitimate fears that these weapons could be used against the US. [iv]
The United States has policies which uphold Realist theories very strongly. If the world really is uni-polar, and the United States is at the top, then we need to retain that spot as the most powerful and influential nation in the world to avoid any global upset that could be caused by the rise of China. The world is currently run on a democratic and capitalist system, if a Communist nation like China were to become the next world power, would that change? Right now China has economic zones in place on the coast so that it can trade with nations like the US and EU member states under a capitalist system. How would that change in a few decades if China did surpass us? While some argue that China is adapting to the current social and economic system, others like Martin Jacques, author of When China Rules the World, argue that the new world would reflect Chinese values. The new world language would become Mandarin, schools would teach Chinese history, and Beijing would become the new economic hub that is New York City today. Jacques also believes that China’s world status would not last, as they were able to rise in power because of their extensive exports. He believes that the United States and Europe will become angry and China will be taken down and the current world order would return. [v]
No matter which way the global order changes, nations in power and those close to them will continue to be on the defensive as they prepare for possible confrontations. The United States and China will continue to increase their defenses because they both fear the other will attack first, and they want to be ready. This same event occurred in our Risk game. When a nation began to build its forces near a territory you thought valuable, you would increase your troops as well in case of an attack. This plays on a global scale in much more severe circumstances, but these ideals are nothing short of human nature.
[i] "BBC NEWS | Americas | Gates Unveils US Defence Budget." BBC News - Americas. BBC News, 6 Apr. 2009. Web. 21 Sept. 2011. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7986627.stm>.
[ii] "BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | China to Boost Military Spending." BBC News - Asia-Pacific. BBC News, 4 Mar. 2009. Web. 21 Sept. 2011. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7922699.stm>.
[iii] News, Michael Bristow BBC. "BBC News - China White Paper Highlights US Military 'competition'" BBC News - Asia-Pacific. BBC News, 31 Mar. 2011. Web. 21 Sept. 2011. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12917338>.
[iv] Bumiller, Elizabeth. "U.S. Official Warns About China’s Military Buildup." The New York Times. The New York Times, 24 Aug. 2011. Web. 20 Sept. 2011. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/25/world/25military.html?_r=1>.
[v] Rodrik, Dani. "Will China Rule the World? - Dani Rodrik - Project Syndicate." Project Syndicate - the Highest Quality Op-ed ( Opinion-editorial ) Articles and Commentaries. Project Syndicate, 12 Jan. 2010. Web. 21 Sept. 2011. <http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/rodrik39/English>.
Emma -- awesome essay. Just a few things that popped into my mind when reading it.
ReplyDeleteMilitary -- One may argue that the large gap between the two nations in military/defense spending can be explained with a few reasons. One of them that other countries across the globe envy the US military for its ability to be the only country with the means to invade multiple medium-sized countries in other continents and still sustain very few casualties. No other country is even near being able to project military force in such a force and range that the US does. Keep in mind that military spending, if I'm correct, is only nearly 3% of US GDP. I would assume that is a lower percentage then many other countries. Does this answer some of the questions in addition to some of your answers? And how is this viewed in terms of the realist terms you wrote about?
Also, one may say that there are so many other aspects to being the world's superpower than just the economy & military. For example, China would have to create brands like Coca Cola, McDonalds, Microsoft, Google, etc... household names all across the world. They would have to have major universities that are household names that students want to come to from all around the world. Can china attract the best to immigrate there where they can expect a good life? Be the leader in entertainment/culture (our LA)? I could keep going but I think you get the idea. What would a realist say to all of these arguments (beside the economy/military) that China couldn't possibly take the "superpower" status away from the US?
Ryan,
ReplyDeleteYou made a lot of points I hadn’t even thought of, like about the household brand names and universities. Realists would certainly define this as having influence on other nations, which is part of having power. Without doing anything, other countries are buying US franchises and applying to US universities because they see us as an important and influential nation. The US is known for its opportunities for freedom, and people from all over the world risk their lives to travel to the United States. China has never had this kind of appeal, and they are not likely to have it anytime soon. The rest of the world looks to the United States for global policy and the US certainly holds a lot of power in organizations like the UN. So you’re right in saying that while China could gain economic and military power, they will most likely never gain the kind of power the US has.
As for your question about the US military, Realists certainly believe that military power speaks loudly about a country’s influence. The CIA World Factbook puts the US at 24th in the list of highest GDP spent on the military by percentage with 4.06% of our GDP going to the military. In terms of realism, this shows that other countries are equality concerned with military power. Middle Eastern countries hold the top 7 spots on this list, which shows that there is a lot of armed conflict or threat of conflict in that area. This could be an example of the security dilemma. Each of these countries is trying to outdo the other to secure their sovereignty.