The prospect of prolonged unemployment in the U.S. combined with slow economic growth and the continued expansion of the Chinese economy has thrown the costs of America's global foreign policy into sharp relief. Lawrence Korb and Loren Thomson argue that the U.S. can retrench from its over-extended posture by arming allies:
For example, the Pentagon needs to build weapons that are affordable and appropriate for its partners. Nobody can afford the new $3-billion destroyer the Navy has developed â?? Gates canceled the program â?? but many countries can afford the faster, more agile Littoral Combat Ship. Similarly, the $150-million price tag on the Air Force's twin-engine F-22 fighter is too high for allies, but if the single-engine F-35 can be fielded for less than half that cost, it will have major export potential.The White House has already embarked on a series of initiatives to engage allies in more robust security roles while loosening the export restrictions that impeded arming them. These steps may have trade benefits for America, but their real significance is that America's eroding economic might makes unilateralism too costly to be feasible. Washington needs to help overseas friends play a bigger security role so it can concentrate on rebuilding its economy.
The trouble with this approach is that the U.S. can't catalyze greater allied burden sharing simply by selling weapons. First, it's not clear that America's European allies are all that eager to go on a military shopping spree. National budgets are under tremendous strain and the push for greater austerity will likely pinch defense spending still further. Second, for those allies in Asia that are likely to pay up for U.S. arms to offset a rising China, America is only redoubling its commitment to their security.
The U.S. can only achieve needed cost-savings in the national security arena if it selectively disgorges some of its defense commitments and redefines what it sees as core national interests that need to be protected with armed force. If Washington continues to insist that it's a global power with the world as its sphere of influence, than the U.S. is going to find itself perennially over-stretched no matter how many F-35s we sell.
(AP Photo)
