Although some argue that America has no choice but to curtail its outlays in these areas, this is not the case. As a share of GDP, the US is spending less than half of what it did at the peak of the Cold War, when the century of American leadership was being consolidated.
第一个问题是，美国应该在防务和外交政策上花多少钱。尽管一些人认为美国别无选择，只能削减这方面的支出，但事实并非如此。按占GDP的比例衡量，美国的支出还不到冷战顶峰、美国领导的世纪得到巩固时期的一半。