Opportunity Cost: Weighing Elements Of National Power Against Prosperity and Security
Abstract
This thesis shows the relationship between the elements of national power, prosperity, and security using a mixed-methodology approach. The Congressional Budget Office's 2019 projection of the United States federal budget through 2050 shows a gradual and significant decrease in discretionary spending. The decrease in discretionary spending poses a threat to the United States' international primacy and domestic prosperity. This thesis analyzes and uses qualitative analysis of seminal literature concerning hard and soft power. Then, relationships between the elements of national power, diplomacy, information, military, economy, security, and prosperity are calculated using multiple linear regression, statistical analysis, and publicly available indexes. This thesis also considers whether a country's similarity to the United States has a significant impact on the regression model. The findings identified that a country will maximize prosperity and security by investing in the information and diplomacy domains. Meanwhile, the military domain is a detriment to prosperity and security. Furthermore, country similarity did not strengthen the model. Policymakers, decision-makers, and lawmakers should use this data and analysis to change how the United States prioritizes resources to the Department of Defense and divest from the military overall, while shifting priority to soft-power domains like information and diplomacy.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 18, 2021
- Accession Number
- AD1157287
Entities
People
- Charles F. Dvorak
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College