The budget’s a zero-sum game---controlling spending undergirds hard power, which controls all other aspects of the international arena
Charles J. Dunlap 17, Professor of the Practice of Law and Executive Director, Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, at Duke Law School, 3/29/17, “Why the Foreign Policy Sky is Not Falling,” https://www.justsecurity.org/39337/foreign-policy-sky-falling/
In that regard, it’s important to recognize the US is still considered to be the most powerful country on the planet. The cruel reality is that we live in a world where being the preeminent military power is essential for our security, and I think most Americans understand this instinctively, and want the US to remain in the lead.
I’m convinced that this is why a new Politico poll shows most Americans want more spent on national defense. As to humanitarian aid to other countries? 45 percent wanted less spent, while only 16 percent wanted more and just 27 percent wanted the same amount spent. Of course, many Americans may overestimate how much is spent on foreign aid, but I also wonder how many of its supporters genuinely understand it. For example, around 40 percent is dedicated to selling weapons overseas and “building armies.” We can, I think, all agree that we need an informed national discussion about foreign aid, but until that takes place, I can understand some pulling back as we evaluate its value.
The U.S. budget is, unfortunately, a zero-sum game. Trump’s proposal is decidedly a hard power one, but America’s global leadership cannot be maintained in the face of hard power opponents like Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, as well as terrorist entities like ISIS, absent preserving its place as having the world’s most powerful military. No truly objective observer can say that the U.S. military doesn’t need more resources – and this is something that predates the rise of Trump. Do we really think that our diplomats will have the leverage they need with, for example, an Air Force that is the smallest it has ever been, and flying airplanes averaging 27 years old?
Sure, I suppose we could just add to the debt and fully fund all the programs whose cuts Michael and Jack decry, but recall that the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen said in 2010 that the “most significant threat to our national security is our debt.” While I do think there are places and circumstances where foreign aid can advance U.S. interests, at the moment, our top priority needs to be ensuring we have the military means to create the circumstances for the diplomats to use the billions they will still get most effectively.