Essay on Defense Policy

The threat of nuclear weapons and nuclear war still exists today as 8 countries are known to have nuclear weapons capabilities. Power seems to lie with countries who have nuclear capabilities because nuclear weapons are one of the most dangerous and powerful weapons. The threat of nuclear war will always exist as long as there are nuclear

National Defense Education Act (NDEA), U.S. federal legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on September 2, 1958, that provided funding to improve American schools and to promote postsecondary education. The main goal of the legislation was to enable the country’s educational system to meet the demands posed by national security needs. Of particular concern was bolstering the United States’ ability to compete with the Soviet Union in the areas of science and technology.

With the numbers totaled the defense budget is currently sitting at a solid 3.5 percent of our GDP and there are still questions on how much more we can put in to make this country safe. The White House is calling for more money to be spent on national defense and their economists say that the United States can withstand a gross spending of somewhere around 9 to 10 percent of our GDP. The money to pay for any

In his farewell address to the nation in 1961, President Eisenhower warned the country of the “acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex” (Eisenhower 1961). Despite being a warning from so long ago, time has vindicated Eisenhower’s words. From the time of Eisenhower to present day, the United States has seen an unprecedented growth of the power, size, and influence of the military industrial complex. Today, the military industrial complex exerts great pressure on the foreign policy decision making process of the United States government. This sad state of affairs is the result of a multitude of factors, including iron triangles and issue networks, as well as the foreign policy bureaucracies that serve as actors within these paradigms.

Nuclear weapons are one of, if not the most dangerous weapons in the world today and they are one of the biggest issues the world faces at this current moment. They have the capability of destroying entire cities and then some that could result in millions of deaths within seconds. Radiation from the blasts would kill even more people throughout years to come. They were first used in 1945 at the end of World War II, when the United States dropped Little Boy and Fat Man in Hiroshima and Nagasaki to ‘save’ the lives of American soldiers. Since then, a nuclear arms race was born and it’s becoming more of a concern as time moves forward. Albert Einstein, who was the creator of the nuclear bomb once said “I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” Countries should not have access to nuclear weapons because it destroys the environment, there is a possibility of a nuclear war that will end in mass destruction of the world, and countries could save both revenue and resources.

Two main theorists of international relations, Kenneth Waltz and Scott Sagan have been debating on the issue of nuclear weapons and the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the 21st century. In their book The Spread of Nuclear Weapons: An Enduring Debate, they both discuss their various theories, assumptions and beliefs on nuclear proliferation and nuclear weapons. To examine why states would want to attain/develop a nuclear weapon and if increasing nuclear states is a good or bad thing. In my paper, I will discuss both of their theories and use a case study to illustrate which theory I agree with and then come up with possible solutions of preventing a nuclear war from occurring.

Throughout the course of history, the United States has remained consistent with its national interest by taking many different actions in foreign policy. There have been both immediate and long term results of these actions. Foreign policy is the United States policy that defines how we deal with other countries economically and politically. It is made by congress, the president, and the people. Some of the motivations for United States foreign policy are national security, economics, and idealism. The United States entry into World War I in 1917 and the escalation of the Vietnam War in 1964 and the both had great impact on the United States.

Since the invention of nuclear weapons, they have presented the world with a significant danger, one that was shown in reality during the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. However, nuclear weapons have not only served in combat, but they have also played a role in keeping the world peaceful by the concept of deterrence. The usage of nuclear weapons would lead to mutual destruction and during the Cold War, nuclear weapons were necessary to maintain international security, as a means of deterrence. However, by the end of the Cold War, reliance on nuclear weapons for maintaining peace became increasingly difficult and less effective (Shultz, et. al, 2007). The development of technology has also provided increasing opportunities for states

Nuclear weapons pose a direct and constant threat to people. Not even close from keeping the peace, they breed fear and mistrust among nations. These ultimate instruments

The evolution of U.S. Foreign policy following the Civil War is continually evolving. During the Civil War years, America had an economy that was based on agriculture. Farmers were growing cotton, tobacco and sugarcane. Slaves from Africa worked on these enormous plantations. . At the time, America was in an election year with Lincoln as the candidate of the Republican Party claiming he was going to abolish slavery. When Lincoln won the election he did just that, immediately there after 7 states declared their independence from the US, they were then known as Confederate States. After a few years 4 more states

An article written in 2011 describes the tensions that were growing with China and how officials were concerned with its growing military and economy. The article presents the idea that a nuclear war is not necessarily inevitable but is absolutely possible. The article points out that the United States as well as China has in their possession an abundance of nuclear weapons. It is estimated that the United States has over 5,000 nuclear war heads while China has roughly 500 war hear heads. However, about only 40 are able to reach the United States. Though China may only have 40 nuclear war heads in their arsenal that can reach the United States, it is estimated that by the time 2020 this number will more than

The federal budget is one of the biggest political debates in Washington, D.C. Every year, the President and Congress debate over how much money should be allocated to certain areas of the budget to effectively manage the country. The Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 requires the President to submit the budget to Congress for each fiscal year. The federal budget includes funding request for all federal executive departments and independent agencies.

Although, the Cold War has been over for decades the threat of imminent nuclear destruction still looms over America; not from terrorist groups such as ISIS or Russia the country with the largest stockpile of nuclear weaponry, but rather, a persistent threat that many Americans do not even perceive as one. North Korea is not shy about demonstrating their nuclear weapons, with the most recent of their tests being fired into the Japanese ocean. Both the articles I’ll be addressing today give a clear statement of how America has addressed nuclear conflict in the past and how Americans still fear the same kinds of attacks without thinking of new ways their country could be compromised by nuclear weaponry.

The historian Spencer Weart notes "You say 'nuclear bomb ' and everybody immediately thinks of the end of the world" The escalation of nuclear proliferation in and around the world, especially in the Middle East has led to the fear of nuclear war in the near future. Many countries built nuclear weapons because it felt insecure from the major nuclear states or from their neighbors conventional military or nuclear capabilities. This is the situation with China, India and Pakistan. Many other reasons encourage countries to seek nuclear weapons, but the main reason for acquiring nuclear weapons is the deterrence against any external threat and prevention external offensive that might lead to war. Nuclear weapons make such countries feel more secure, nuclear weapons can prevent war because countries will have the ability to deter any external aggression. At the same time, there is no guarantee that acquiring nuclear weapons may lead to nuclear war.

By breaking down the two key words, security and defense, you find how each of these items are married together. Security and defense are to very similar words, one you are securing a given item and the other you are defending. So, wouldn’t you think that homeland defense and homeland security would be the same? You would, but they are not. Homeland defense is the of its self is the infrastructure used to defend us against any sort of external threat. Whereas Homeland Security is the strategy that is used with to combat these sort of things. It goes without saying that the primary mission of homeland security and defense, is to protect the citizens of the United States of America. Within the mission is the tasks, and each individual department has its own specific task. Now, with the specific task comes specific duties, responsibilities, and operations. From personal experience, most operations of within the homeland security/defense real are in some way, shape, or form joint operations. Now each individual knows their specific tasks, duty, and responsibility. Take for example the current situation in New York City and Elizabeth, New Jersey, you have on the ground investigating, the local law enforcement agencies, the ATF, the FBI, and Homeland Security agents. Each agency has their own job and their own input on what needs to be done while on scene. Here is simple breakdown of those task, the local law enforcement agents are first own the scene. They are going to