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Suri Calls for a Reassessment of the Size and Role of the U.S. Military

Sep 14, 2021 |

Professor Jeremi Suri, a Professor in UT Austin’s Department of History and the LBJ School of Public Affairs and a Strauss Center Distinguished Scholar, recently published an op-ed in the New York Times titled “History Is Clear. America’s Military Is Way Too Big.” In it, he argues that the war in Afghanistan is “stark evidence of how counterproductive global military dominance is to American interests.” To that end, Professor Suri notes the long record of U.S. military interventions that have failed to achieve their stated diplomatic and political goals.

One notable instance of this failure was the Vietnam war, when President Johnson’s advisors assured him that American military support would deliver a swift victory over the Communist forces. In this instance, as in others, the mission failed. Suri attributes this type of failure to the fact that “a large military presence distorts political development” rather than helping to build the necessary “foundation of peaceful forms of trade, education and citizen participation.” Suri credits this over-reliance on military intervention to the gargantuan size of the U.S. military budget, which has grown to more than $700 billion. In effect, this means that other U.S. agencies do not have the requisite capacity to intervene in foreign crises, making military support the default posture. Professor Suri connects the swelling size of the U.S. military to the militarization of American society, noting the use of battlefield gear and military equipment by domestic police forces. Suri concludes by emphasizing the necessity of reassessing the proper role of the U.S. military at home and abroad. Read the full article here.

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