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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (95626)	4/22/2003 4:41:53 PM
From: Original Mad Dog	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 281500

However the military spending is quite sustainable amounting to about 4% of GDP, a lower level then it has been during most of the time from 1942 until the mid 90s. That is true... but the way most empires fall is not by reducing the numerator of that fraction but through a deterioration of the denominator. Some of al Qaeda's rhetoric does suggest that a primary goal is to interfere with the commerce that provides the fuel for the military prowess. Imagine if GDP went down by 10 percent. Not only would military spending have to go down by 10 percent to maintain the 4% of GDP figure, but there would be tremendous domestic pressure to reduce that 4% to, say, 2% or 3%. Reducing it to 3% of a smaller GDP would require a 30 percent or so reduction in defense spending, which would have a real impact on the U.S.' ability to project power around the world.