Pro — The United States is exceptional and should be leading the world, not following it. U.S. military power has been a major stabilizing force that has contributed to global peace. The U.S. should have the ability to quickly and decisively project overwhelming military power anywhere in the world. Cutting defense spending would undermine this ability. It would send a signal that we are no longer committed to playing our leadership role; our allies would lose confidence in us; adversaries would challenge us; and Asian countries might increasingly come under China’s influence.
Con — The U.S. has far more military power than any other nation and more than enough to protect itself and its allies. But we are playing the role of world policeman too much, and we are building up our military power to project it everywhere in the world. We can deal with global threats by working together with our allies and sharing the burden. We don’t have to have a military so big that we can do everything, and do it all by ourselves.
Editor's note: Between now and May 9th, we will be presenting questions adapted from a national survey by the Program for Public Consultation, a nonprofit group affiliated with the University of Maryland, that was developed jointly with the Center for Public Integrity and the Stimson Center. The survey, which was done with a representative national sample, is meant to gauge public attitudes on whether and how defense spending should be reduced as part of Washington’s effort to trim projected federal deficits totaling $10 trillion over the next decade. The national survey is now being analyzed and findings will be presented on the websites of the three organizations involved and at a joint press conference on May 10th. Visitors to this website are welcome to register their opinions as well; a tally of those results (not to be confused with the findings of the scientific sample of the survey) may be given on the website at a later date. —R. Jeffrey Smith
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