Robert M. Gates
Despite the boasts of both presidential candidates as well as congressional Republicans and Democrats that they will ensure American military superiority, the Defense Department begins the 14th fiscal year of the past 15 without an appropriated budget. The dire consequences of yet another year beginning with a continuing resolution funding the Pentagon were communicated to Congress by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin this month. This is just the most recent demonstration of the yawning gap between the political rhetoric in Washington about sustaining American military strength and the stark realities on the ground.
As secretary of defense for both Republican and Democratic presidents, I strongly supported allocating more resources for nonmilitary instruments of power — diplomacy, strategic communications, development assistance, geoeconomic tools and more. But it is a fact of life that these instruments are effective only against the backdrop of American military power so compelling that adversaries are deterred from taking up arms against us or our allies.
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