The United States has a large and powerful military to protect us from potential foreign invasion. It is for defense. We are also willing to aid the defense of allies as we did during World Wars I and II and the Korean war. This increases our voice in the world, i.e. it is sometimes in our interest to help friends. But for some reason we have sometimes been the aggressor as in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Panama, Somalia, Haiti, Yugoslavia/Serbia (when I later entered Belgrade, I saw the Chines Embassy we had bombed by mistake), Libya, and Syria. These attacks did not generally serve American interests. Nor do Trump’s bullying verbal attacks on our traditional allies.
It is in America’s interest to stick to the defensive use of our military. So why does Sec. Hegseth want to change the Defense Department’s name to the Department of War? When I asked AI this question it responded that:
“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump want to use the secondary title Department of War to promote a “warrior ethos” that emphasizes fighting and winning wars rather than focusing on defensive or peacekeeping roles.”
It’s one thing for this guy to blabber on as a TV personality, but quite different and very dangerous for him to lead our military. I whole heartedly support Republican Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky’s intention to reintroduce articles of impeachment against Hegseth if Hegseth remains in his position when Congress returns to the capital following the November midterm elections.
Author: Warren Coats
I specialize in advising central banks on monetary policy and the development of the capacity to formulate and implement monetary policy. I joined the International Monetary Fund in 1975 from which I retired in 2003 as Assistant Director of the Monetary and Financial Systems Department. While at the IMF I led or participated in missions to the central banks of over twenty countries (including Afghanistan, Bosnia, Croatia, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kyrgystan, Moldova, Serbia, Turkey, West Bank and Gaza Strip, and Zimbabwe) and was seconded as a visiting economist to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (1979-80), and to the World Bank's World Development Report team in 1989. After retirement from the IMF I was a member of the Board of the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority from 2003-10 and of the editorial board of the Cayman Financial Review from 2010-2017. Prior to joining the IMF I was Assistant Prof of Economics at UVa from 1970-75. I am currently a fellow of Johns Hopkins Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise. In March 2019 Central Banking Journal awarded me for my “Outstanding Contribution for Capacity Building.” My recent books are One Currency for Bosnia: Creating the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina; My Travels in the Former Soviet Union; My Travels to Afghanistan; My Travels to Jerusalem; and My Travels to Baghdad. I have a BA in Economics from the UC Berkeley and a PhD in Economics from the University of Chicago. My dissertation committee was chaired by Milton Friedman and included Robert J. Gordon. I live in National Landing Va 22202
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Dear Warren,
An interesting argument, but I think you oversimplify American military history by placing very different interventions under the “aggression” category.
American power has served not only to defend our borders but also to protect allies (which you briefly mentioned), preserve international stability, and advance strategic interests—sometimes successfully, sometimes disastrously unfortunately.
I agree that renaming the Department of Defense the “Department of War” sends an unfortunate message. But words are less important than policies, accountability, and results.
My greater concern is that America is currently losing its global leadership not through military weakness, but through diplomatic arrogance, deteriorating alliances, and the erosion of the international institutions it helped create.
A powerful America does not need to bully its friends or wage unnecessary wars. Its greatest strength has always been the ability to lead, persuade, and build alliances—not simply to intimidate. Always better to show the “carrot” to the world …;. they already know we hold the “stick” hiding on our back.
Do you not reckon so?
Sergio A. Pombo
Yes. I fully agree