MICHAEL P. FERGUSON
Last Thursday’s presidential debate covered a range of issues, but the future of the American military wasn’t one of them.
This might come as a surprise, given certain controversial proposals in the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act. If it becomes law, the document would require women to enroll in selective service and thus become eligible for a military draft. The Pentagon’s recruitment deficits, coupled with escalating tensions around the world, have breathed life into such legislation.
Although the White House is reluctant to embrace the Cold War label, that hasn’t stopped the highest-ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), from calling for a generational investment in defense. Despite the typical election year polarization, there is a consensus in Washington that America is in an exceptionally dangerous moment. There is less harmony, however, regarding what the nation should do about it.
Beyond coming to terms with our defense industrial challenges, the most fashionable idea is to throw more money at researching and developing the latest defense technologies or unmanned systems. These investments could offset the widening gap between America’s global security obligations and the number of humans willing and able to support them.
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