Foreign Policy Tools: The Foreign Affairs Budget

Edwards, Mickey, Solarz, Stephen J., Brookings Review

American spending on foreign assistance and diplomacy has fallen by more than 15 percent since the 1980s. Under current plans to balance the federal budget by 2002, the U.S. international affairs budget would fall again as much - if not more.

With the Cold War over, it is only natural that the United States focus more on domestic concerns. But domestic renewal must not blind us to the world's continuing dangers. Ethnic strife, regional instability, crime, narcotics, terrorism, famine, environmental degradation, fanaticism, and rogue regimes with mass destruction capabilities have taken the place of the global communist threat. Unless the United States is prepared to spend the money necessary to address these dangers, it cannot effectively protect its interests and provide world leadership in these important arenas.

Moreover, wise use of the foreign affairs account to strengthen friendly forces and calm and defuse potentially explosive situations can reduce demands on U.S. military forces, potentially saving much more money in the defense account.

ONE CENT ON THE FEDERAL DOLLAR

What is our government now spending to meet its global challenges and opportunities? In …

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Publication information: Article title: Foreign Policy Tools: The Foreign Affairs Budget. Contributors: Edwards, Mickey - Author, Solarz, Stephen J. - Author. Magazine title: Brookings Review. Volume: 15. Issue: 2 Publication date: Spring 1997. Page number: 16+. © 1999 Brookings Institution. COPYRIGHT 1997 Gale Group.

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