Recent Trends in World Spending
United States Military Spending
Is Current U.S. Spending Justified?
How World Military Spending Could be Better Used
Source: Center for Defense Information 2004 Yearbook
History of U.S. Defense Funding:
From the end of the Second World War to the end of the Cold War, the United States spent most of its military budget engaging in a game of military build-up against the Soviet Union. The hightest expenses were during the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and through most of the 1980s. During the Cold War the average military budget each year was 342.4 billion per year. [4] At the end of the 1980s the Soviet Union collapsed. This left the United States with a massive military buildup of weapons and an enormous defense industry, but without an enemy. Without a significant threat posed by an international power, defense spending steadily decreased from 1998-2001. Moderate increases in military expenditures occured from 1998-2001, but it was nothing significant. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 gave the U.S. a new enemy, so the government unleashed huse increases in military spending to fight the terrorist threat.
Current U.S. Military Budget:
Before the attacks the military budget request for the 2001 Fiscal Year was 305 billion dollars. After 9/11 more money was needed to protect the U.S. against further attacks. Therefore, the military budget request then increased in 2002, 2003, and 2004, to 343.2 billion, 396.1 billion, and 399.1 billion, respectively. Now the U.S. military budget request for Fiscal Year 2005 is 420.7 billion dollars. [2] These increase in military budget are the result of missions launched in Afghanistan and Iraq.
How the U.S. Pays for Its Large Military Budget:
The reason that the U.S. government can afford a 420.7 billion dollar military budget is because it has a discretionary spending budget for 2005 of 818 billion dollars. [2] Discretionary spending is the money the President/Administration and Congress have direct control over, and must decide what to spend it on, each year. This is different than mandatory spending which is based on existing laws, such as Medicare and Social Security, which the government has no control over year to year. Because the U.S. Government has dedicated 51% of its discretionary funding to the military budget the last three years it can afford a large military budget. The following graph shows the discretionary budget request for the 2003 Fiscal Year, which was in total 782 billion dollars. [4]
Sorce: Fiscal Year 2004 Budget Request. 2004.Center For Defense Information
Future:
As a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute stated in June 2004, "While US military expenditure is set to continue to grow and will continue to propel world military spending, the pace is likely to fall back somewhat in the next few years. In the longer term it is doubtful whether current levels will be economically and politically sustainable." [1]