Scale it Back? Saying No to Expanding the U.S. Military | Foreign Affairs

Instead of trying to expand the military, U.S. leaders should scale down, writes Barry Posen in his Foreign Affairs essay “A Less-Is-More Strategy for America.”

The argument? We’ve tried too hard to be capable of fighting two major wars at once. 

The result? A worn-down military that can’t really do that anyway. 

This piece is a response to the lengthening of combat tours we’ve seen this past year (the USS Abraham Lincoln is an obvious example), dilapidated equipment, etc. 

Our Thoughts 

This take involves a higher level of allied burden-sharing. Particularly of NATO.

The irony here is that the Trumpian impulse to do as much also comes with a massive (proposed) increase in military funding– and not the scaled-back, home front-focused U.S. security posture that the taxpayer was promised. 

And, the SACEUR is still American, Posen points out. NATO military exercises still happen on American soil. 

So where does this take us? Is this giving up, in a way, to the size and strength of our competitors? Or a pragmatic recalibration? 

“Washington should cut its policy coat to fit the available cloth,” Posen concludes. Take that as you will. Worth the read.