The most powerful military force?
The estimated budget for the US Department of Defense for fiscal year 2019 is $686 billion, up 13% from the 2017 budget (the last one passed by Congress). The Pentagon is the headquarters of the US Department of Defense.
On February 12, U.S. President Donald Trump submitted to Congress a proposal for a fiscal year 2019 budget bill that would spend about $716 billion on national defense. The Department of Defense should have a whopping $686 billion at its disposal, up $80 billion (13%) from 2017. This is the second nominally largest defense budget in the history of the United States - after the peak fiscal year of 2011, when the Pentagon had a whopping $708 billion at its disposal. During the press conference, Trump pointed out that the United States will have "an army that it never had" and that increased spending on new weapons and technical upgrades is a result of the threat posed by Russia and China.
At the beginning of this analysis, it is worth noting that in the United States, unlike, for example, Poland or most countries of the world, the tax (budget) year does not coincide with the calendar year and, therefore, we are talking about the budget for 2019, although until recently we celebrated the beginning of 2018. The US federal government tax year runs from October 1 of the previous calendar year to September 30 of this year, and so the US government is currently (March 2018) in the middle of fiscal year 2018, i.e. US spending defense next year.
The total amount of 686 billion dollars consists of two components. The first, the so-called Defense Base Budget, will be $597,1 billion and, if approved by Congress, would nominally be the largest base budget in US history. The second pillar, foreign military operations (OVO) spending, was set at $88,9 billion, which is a significant amount compared to this type of spending in 2018 ($71,7 billion), which, however, , fades in the perspective of the “war” of 2008, when $186,9 billion was allocated to the OCO. Worth noting, taking into account the remaining spending related to national security, the total amount proposed in the budget law for this purpose is a staggering $886 billion, the highest spending in this area in the history of the United States. In addition to the aforementioned $686 billion, this result also includes some budget components from the Departments of Veterans Affairs, State, Homeland Security, Justice, and the National Nuclear Security Agency.
It is important to note that the presidential administration has the unequivocal support of Congress in the context of increasing defense spending. In early February, an inter-party agreement was reached, according to which it was decided to temporarily (for the 2018 and 2019 tax years) suspend the mechanism for sequestering some budget items, including defense spending. The agreement, totaling more than $1,4 trillion ($700 billion for 2018 and $716 billion for 2019), means an increase in the spending limit for these purposes by $165 billion compared to previous limits under the Law on budget control from 2011. , and subsequent agreements. The agreement in February unlocked the Trump administration to increase defense spending without the risk of triggering a sequestration mechanism, as it did in 2013, with serious negative consequences for the military and defense industry companies.
Reasons for rising US military spending
According to both Donald Trump's words during the Feb. 12 press conference on the budget and the Department of Defense's information, the 2019 budget reflects the desire to maintain a military advantage over the US's main adversaries, i.e. China and the Russian Federation. According to Department of Defense auditor David L. Norquist, the draft budget is based on assumptions about currently in place national security and national defense strategies, i.e. with terrorism. He points out that it is becoming increasingly clear that China and Russia want to shape the world according to their authoritarian values and, in the process, replace the free and open order that ensured global security and prosperity after World War II.
Indeed, although the issues of terrorism and the American presence in the Middle East are heavily emphasized in the above-mentioned documents, the main role in them is played by the threat from the "strategic rival" - China and Russia, "violating the borders of neighboring countries." their. In the background are two smaller states that, admittedly, cannot threaten the United States, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Islamic Republic of Iran, which Washington sees as a source of instability in their regions. Only in third place in the National Defense Strategy is the threat from terrorist groups mentioned, despite the defeat of the so-called. Islamic state. The most important goals of defense are: to protect the territory of the United States from attack; maintaining the advantage of the armed forces in the world and in key regions for the state; restraining the enemy from aggression. The overall strategy is based on the belief that the United States is now emerging from a period of "strategic atrophy" and is aware that its military superiority over its main rivals has diminished in recent years.
