01/16/09: Prevent War: A Year Ripe for Change
January 16, 2009
Prevent War: A Year Ripe for Change
Topics in this message:
- Report from the Hill
- Take Action: Invest in Prevention
- Additional Resources
- New Resources at FCNL.org
1. Report from the Hill
Yesterday, Thursday, January 15, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted to recommend confirmation of Hillary Clinton as secretary of state and heard testimony from Susan Rice, the nominee for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. The full Senate is likely to confirm both Clinton and Rice in the coming days. Read highlights from the hearings.
On Tuesday, January 20th, Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States. While the president-elect made hope a cornerstone of his campaign, the challenges before him are great. Last week, the Congressional Budget Office reported that the U.S. budget deficit will reach $1.2 trillion this year – the largest deficit since the Great Depression. This prediction did not include the costs of the proposed economic recovery bill – totaling nearly $1 trillion – which is expected to pass by February.
Pressure to cut spending is mounting on Capitol Hill. But where will the cuts come? FCNL is advocating a reordering of U.S. foreign policy spending priorities to save both lives and treasure.
Under the Bush administration, military spending increased from $300 billion to nearly $800 billion. The U.S. military budget is greater than that of the next 46 highest spending nations combined, accounting for nearly half of global military spending. U.S. military spending is out of control. Even the Pentagon knows it.
In December, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Admiral Mike Mullen said that military overspending must stop. Meanwhile, spending on civilian engagement hasn't surpassed $40 billion. The budget for the Department of Defense is more than fifty times greater than resources for the State Department. Cutting wasteful spending at the Pentagon, and adequately investing in diplomacy, development, and international organizations will help prevent conflicts from turning deadly and enable policymakers to better respond to violence when it occurs.
Last year, a report from the Stimson Center and the American Academy of Diplomacy estimated that it would cost just $510 million to hire and train 1,100 foreign service officers annually. As New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristoff notes, this is roughly the cost of one C-17 military cargo plane. The Unified Security Budget Task Force, a group of experts in foreign and security policy, estimates that $61 billion could be cut from the military budget at no cost to U.S. security. With those funds alone, the United States could radically increase development assistance, strengthen U.S. preventive diplomacy, and restore this country’s reputation at the United Nations by paying all U.S. debt to the organization.
As Gen. Anthony Zinni (USMC, ret.) put it, “It is time to repair our relationship with the world and begin to take it to the next level – a level defined not only by our military strength, but also by the lives we save and the opportunities we create for the people of other nations.” FCNL agrees. Rebalancing foreign affairs spending is the first step.
2. Take Action: Invest in Prevention
Urge your member to support wiser foreign affairs spending.
3. Additional Resources
What Is Sustainable Security? (video from Center for American Progress)
Clinton Needs Diplomats and Nation Builders (The National Journal)
4. New Resources at FCNL.org
The Responsibility to Prevent (pdf) (January 2009 Washington Newsletter)
FCNL Recommendations to President-Elect Barack Obama