The Pros And Cons Of US Military Spending

Is There Something Wrong With United States’ Military Spending?

The debate on whether the United States is spending too much or too little on the military has been going on for several years now with no ending in sight. Some background knowledge on this topic is that since 2007, the U.S. has spent at least 600 billion dollars on the military with highs of over 700 billion in 2010 and 2011. The citizens of the United States are still divided on whether there is too much or too little being spent on the military. Americans were surveyed in 2014, and according to Americans Remain Divided on Military Spending, 37% say too much, 28% say too little, and 45% say just the right amount is being spent on the military. Americans who believe that the

Over half of democrats, surveyed in 2014, believe the U.S. spends too much on defense whereas 49% of Republicans express that the U.S. spends too little. Liberals are almost equally divided between too much, about right and too little when it comes to spending. At the global level, about three quarters of the scholars of international relations, surveyed by the Washington Post in 2014, believe that the United States spends too much on the military while only 5% say too little. One leading scholar, John Mearsheimer, thinks that reducing military spending will eliminate arms races between the U.S. and other powerful nations and will not affect the United States’ national

With the current threat of ISIS, the United States need to be on our toes in case an attack happens. The higher military spending keeps the U.S. prepared and not surprised about an attack like 9/11. Other threats such as the small rogue nations of Iran and North Korea. Iran is under the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty but still seeks to get more nuclear weapons. “Iran also has developed the largest ballistic missile force in the Middle East” (Bucci) and poses a threat to regional countries, US allies as well as the United States. North Korea who did sign NPT at first, withdrew and is building up its nuclear weapons and military. North Korea claims it hit the U.S. with its nuclear weapons, which puts some Americans at