Essay on National Defense A Political Perspective

National Defense: A Political Perspective nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The defense of our nation has always been a strong issue throughout America’s political history. Although our nation has not existed a long period of time, our country has had to take up arms to make the world safe for democracy many times. Liberals and conservatives are also constantly up in arms over the issue of the best way to defend the country. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;One of the foremost issues in the ongoing debate is that of a Ballistic Missile Defense program. The idea was first pitched during the tense period of the Cold War. Colin Powell, a prominent conservative, saw Missile Defense â€Å"at the time the time not as a Utopian dream but as a useful way of†¦show more content†¦Concannon 2 The â€Å"Star Wars† space based program especially has met with strong criticism from liberals throughout the last two decades, cited as being to costly to ever be an option for Missile Defense. Some liberals feel that the program is not unreasonable and feel that advanced testing should be considered as technology gets better every day. The issue is still very much unsettled though as â€Å"Before the anti-terror campaign, the issue of missile defense was the single most important test of how the Bush administration would balance the new primacy of unfettered American self interest...†(Keller 1). nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Perhaps the most debated issue between Conservatives and Liberals in the area of national defense is that of the our defense budget. â€Å"Military spending overall, which fell after the Cold War, is now budgeted to start climbing over the next five years†(Pemberton 2). Military spending was severely cut after the lack of necessity for it, but now the issue of military readiness comes into play. The budget of our nation’s military was designed to accommodate fighting and winning two major wars at once, but many conservatives feel that we are spread too thin to accomplish that. â€Å"The angry and frustrated Republican response to Kosovo is caused, in part, by the president’s refusal to pay the cost of his military commitments† (O’Beirne 1). During the first six years of hisShow MoreRelatedGender, Sex, And The Postnational Defense1539 Words   |  7 PagesGENDER, SEX, AND THE POSTNATIONAL DEFENSE Militarism and Peacekeeping Annica Kronsell New York: Oxford University Press, 2012, In the book Gender, Sex, and the Postnational Defense Annica Kronsell is â€Å"interested in exploring the potential defense and its gender implications† (3). Looking at cases in the European Union and Sweden through a constructivist approach to gender she challenges the mainstream perspectives of masculinity and militarism. In questioning â€Å"whether the broader recognition ofRead MoreUnited States Southern Command ( Southcom ) Essay930 Words   |  4 PagesSouthern Command (SOUTHCOM) has been working to build regional and interagency partnerships to ensure the continued stability of the Western Hemisphere and the forward defense of the U.S. homeland for more than fifty years. 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