U.S foreign policy sets the stage for America's global engagement. This engagement takes the form of military actions, diplomacy, foreign aid and more. And each part of this engagement comes with a price tag.
The budget is where the rubber hits the road. Policymakers, including the president, can talk all they want about priorities and how America can best interact with the world. Actions, however, are what really matter... and spending is one key measure of action.
Looking at the bottom line figures from the 2007 federal budget request, we see that $439 billion was officially tagged for the Defense Department, $17 billion for State Department operations, and $16 billion for international assistance programs managed by the State Department. But this doesn't tell the whole story.
The "Real" Defense Budget
A number of budget analyst point out that the "real" defense department budget should include $7.1 billion for the Coast Guard and a number of other defense related items included in the $33 billion Homeland Security budget. From the Energy Department budget, we should also add $6.4 billion for operating America's arsenal of nuclear warheads and $795 million for maintaining the nuclear reactors on U.S. Navy ships. The $80 billion authorized for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is also not included. This amount was approved in a "supplemental" spending bill outside the annual budget authorization.Added together, real annual spending on U.S. defense is well over half a trillion dollars. According to Dr. Cindy Williams of M.I.T., this means the U.S. spends more on its military than all other governments in the world combined spend on their militaries. A more radical organization, the War Resisters League, says U.S. military spending is actually over $1 trillion every year... because they add in the current cost of past wars including all spending on veteran's retirement and healthcare plus 80% of the interest paid on the national debt (since the debt was accumulated largely for military spending).
More:
As the new Congress begins to grapple with the next federal budget, here are some resources for better understanding where the money really goes:
Official White House documents on the 2007 budget
Budget critique, from Daily Kos
Bush’s New Defense Budget, from the Independent Institute
Beyond Preemption and Preventive War: Increasing U.S. Budget Emphasis on Conflict Prevention, from Dr. Cindy Williams
What is the U.S. International Affairs Budget?, from the U.S. Global Leadership Campaign
Where Your Tax Money Really Goes, from the War Resisters League
