Economic aid for poor nations is crucial, because poverty provides the tinder for violence, conflict, and even terrorism. Yet diplomacy and development take a distant second and third place behind defense – or more accurately, military – approaches in US foreign policy spending.
所有的这一切还可以从经济角度来分析。美国对外政策的原则指出美国的国家安全建立在三大支柱之上：防卫、外交和发展。对穷国的经济援助至关重要。因为贫穷是暴力、冲突甚至恐怖主义的导火线。然而外交和发展只是远远位列防卫—或更确切地说是军事—手段之后的第二、三位。