Already, all financial analysts of the world consider the astronomical deficit that the US federal budget is experiencing as one of the main threats to the status of the United States as a "superpower." Since the reign of President George W. Bush, the hole in the US budget has grown steadily with unenviable stability every year, voraciously absorbing more and more funds from ordinary taxpayers.
And under the presidency of Barack Obama, the US budget began to burst at the seams, and its deficit has already exceeded the critical figure of one trillion dollars. Of course, not the last role was played by colossal allocations for defense (more precisely, an attack) and huge expenses for various and insanely necessary for the average American taxpayer space programs of highbrow gentlemen from NASA.
The highest deficit that the US budget is experiencing has already led to an unprecedented increase in government debt, currently exceeding a critical mark of sixteen trillion dollars. Which regularly causes a flurry of fierce criticism of the presidential administration by parliamentarians from the Republican Party.
The United States military budget, which is the largest in the world, deserves special attention in this regard. In 2013, it amounts to $ 701.8 billion. For comparison, according to data released by the Stockholm Institute for World Studies, the aggregate military spending of all the rest of the world is 1.399 trillion. dollars. The US budget allocates a little less than four percent of the country's GDP to the Pentagon. Which, of course, is significantly inferior to that of the Cold War era, when the United States spent about 5.7% of its gross domestic product on the maintenance of its military machine. But it is also noticeable against the background of an ever-growing "black hole" of the budget, which threatens to absorb the entire economy of America.
And one more small illustration on a subject. According to authoritative international studies, in 2007, the US budget allocated the Pentagon 547 billion evergreen dollars. In the same period, UK defense spending amounted to less than $ 60 billion, China - almost 58.3 billion in the same currency, Russia - 35.4 billion dollars, France - 53.6 billion, Saudi Arabia - less than thirty-four billion. The difference is more than tangible!
If this trend continues, the United States Navy is predicted to be forced to limit its presence and significantly reduce activity in the Pacific Asia by about a third. The result of this may be significantly greater freedom of maneuver of China and Iran, which will have a significant impact on the change in the geopolitical situation in this region of the globe.
Also, a decrease in the cost of maintaining the military department will entail a reduction in the US military presence on the European continent. So far, the United States has borne the bulk of the financial burden of NATO spending and maintaining the Alliance’s overall alertness. This combat readiness, as the operation against Libya has clearly demonstrated, is very problematic. And now it can become completely depressing. All this will inevitably lead to a change in the geopolitical balance of power.
