Assessing Future Trends in the Defense Burdens of Western Nations
Abstract
Throughout the Cold War, the United States bore--by several measures--a larger share of the costs of western defenses than did its allies. This country spent considerably more on defense as measured by absolute dollars, as a percentage of its gross domestic product (GDP), and by the size of its armed forces. The Congress has frequently expressed concern about the portion of the burden shouldered by the United States. Indeed, on several occasions the Congress has been willing to use the threat of penalties, such as the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Europe, to prod its allies to contribute more. With the end of the Cold War, U.S. and allied defense planning has changed fundamentally. Budgets and troop levels are being reduced sharply, which could affect the burden various nations now bear. At the same time, the debate over burdensharing is likely to continue. In the most recent defense authorization act, the Congress expressed strong concern about the portion of the defense burden still being assumed by the United States and imposed several measures to reduce it. As background for the continued debate, this paper projects the likely effects on defense burdensharing of the budget cutbacks now under way. Will they close the burdensharing gap, widen it, or leave it unchanged? The projections are based on those defense plans from the United States and allied nations that were publicly available and current as of the beginning of 1993. An important caveat to this analysis is that U.S. and allied plans could change significantly, especially given the volatile international environment in the post-Cold War period. The forecasts of GDP used in calculating defense-spending-to-GDP ratios could also shift. Information about defense burdensharing is relevant to the defense debate, and it should be useful to U.S. policymakers in their dealings with allied nations.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1993
- Accession Number
- ADA530789
Entities
People
- Ivan Eland
Organizations
- Congressional Budget Office