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The Trump Administration sent its proposed budget to the US Congress on March 16. A key provision of the budget is an increase in the Department of Defense (DoD) budget by $54 billion dollars, a 10% increase. At the same time, this proposal decreases the budget of the State Department by $10.1 billion, or 28%. This illconsidered maneuver will only serve to increase our nation’s insecurity. Of particular concern is that no strategy is attached to the DoD's increased funding. Rather than a strategy or plan, the basis for such important decisions appears to be political or even personal.

As the head of the US Central Command, Marine General James Mattis, now Secretary of Defense, aptly stated:" if you don't fully fund the State Department, then I need to buy more ammunition." With a relatively modest sum of $42.4 billion,(representing 1.02% of the total federal budget), the State Department seeks to maintains a global environment that secures the US homeland, our representatives, businesses interests abroad, and allies. In the absence of economic crises or other large scale threats, it may be difficult to see the value of the current global system of preventive security.