There is a limit to American military power

Last Saturday I published a post that mentioned Preble’s “The Power Problem: How military dominance makes us less safe, less prosperous, and less free.” I regard it as a must read for anyone interested in American foreign policy. If you don’t have the time to read a whole book then take a look at this recently published article that sums up some of the points that he makes. It is not in the U.S.’s interest or capability to police the world:

But there is nothing smart about paying to underwrite the security of the entire world while the true source of our power — our vibrant and dynamic economy — is steadily eroding. The crushing burden of our debt is, in the words of the Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen, "The most significant threat to our national security." Closing the gap between what the government spends and what it takes in from citizens in taxes is imperative. Pentagon spending, which has nearly doubled in the past decades, must be on the table in the search for savings. We can responsibly reduce the size and cost of our military without undermining U.S. security, if we commit to rethinking its purpose. But it would be a mistake to downsize the Department of Defense without adopting a more modest strategy, otherwise we would just be overburdening the military without improving security.

Think of this in the context of the broad bi-partisan consensus that America has a “moral duty” to launch attacks against countries that do not pose a threat to the United States. Considering that the treasury is running dry, it is time for the foreign policy establishment to reconsider their priorities.