English

The Business of War and the Mismeasurement of Military Might

According to US warmongers, the American military is the most powerful fighting force that has ever existed — a war machine so vast and terrible that enemies everywhere tremble in its path. Boasts aside, the US military is surely unrivalled in at least one regard. It is by far the most expensive armed force on the planet. In 2025, the US government funnelled $842 billion through Pentagon coffers. And if Donald Trump gets his way, that figure will rise to $1.5 trillion in 2027. No matter how you slice it, that’s a staggering pile of cash. But what exactly does this money buy? A recent New York Times piece complains that the Pentagon’s enormous budget seems to buy “inertia and incompetence”. And they have a point. Since external audits began in 2017, the Pentagon has notoriously failed every single one. Then again, charges of ‘incompetence’ assume that the purpose of the Pentagon is to spend money wisely — to maximize the war-making return on investment. But what if the Pentagon’s purpose is something different? In 2015, Senator John McCain made the case for sanctions against Russia by dismissing the state as “a gas station masquerading as a country”. Turning closer to home, I think

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