This node is part of the 13 challenges for the 13th generation.

Problem:
In the post-Cold War world, the US military is no longer structured to meet real national security challenges and is wasting scarce resources.

Solution:
Reshape our military to meet emerging global threats, ensure a strong national defense, and save taxpayers billions.

The United States spends more than $280 billion annually on the military. We do not need to spend so much. In a historic review of U.S. defense forces, Clinton’s former secretary of defense, Les Aspin, said that “the framework that guided our security policy during the Cold War is inadequate for the future.” Citing a “potential failure to build a strong and growing U.S. economy” as one of the four key threats facing America in the post-Cold War era, Aspin called for a shift of resources “to meet the dangers to American … prosperity and seize the opportunity to accelerate U.S. economic growth.”

The cost of a wrong-size military is staggering:

  • A single B-2 bomber would buy 424 new elementary schools for 254,000 children.
  • Rather than buying 21 additional Trident II missiles, we could provide prenatal care for 2,127,000 low-income mothers.

To ensure that our generation and those to follow have a strong military and a strong economic future, we must slowly reduce military spending to $200 billion. Defense experts from the Brookings Institute and the Center for Defense Information agree that by spending $200 billion a year on the military the U.S. would still be able to fulfill effectively all of its core military missions with only one change: our allies would have to take on a fair share of their own defense.