A protester holds a sign calling for cut military spending in an anti-war gathering in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington on February 19, 2023, to demand the US to stop fomenting the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and cut its military spending. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)
2月19日，美国上千名反战人士在华盛顿的林肯纪念堂前举行集会。抗议者要求美国停止煽动俄乌冲突、削减美国军费等。图为一名抗议者手举削减军费标语参加集会。新华社记者 刘 杰摄
By Lin Zihan
林子涵
The White House recently announced its budget for the fiscal year 2024, which plans to allocate US$842 billion to the US Department of Defense (DOD), making it the highest military budget proposed by the US government in history. Experts pointed out that the fundamental purpose of the high military spending is to maintain the hegemony of the US.
美国白宫近日公布2024财年预算案，计划为美国国防部拨款8420亿美元，这是美国政府有史以来提出的最高军费预算。专家指出，美国军费高企，根本目的在于维系霸权。
Supported by high military spending, the US continues to disrupt the world, bringing destabilizing factors to the world. The uncertainty of the external environment has also become one reason for the US to further increase its military spending, leading to the US being trapped in a vicious circle of the higher the military spending, the less secure it feels.
在高额军费的支撑下，美国持续搅乱世界，给全球带来不稳定因素。外部环境的不确定性又成为美国进一步大涨军费的理由，导致美国深陷“军费越高，越不安全”的怪圈。
Highest military expenditure in peacetime
和平年代的最高军费
According to the website of the US DOD, the US government's fiscal year 2024 budget proposes a record of US$842 billion for the Pentagon, US$26 billion higher compared with the fiscal year 2023 military budget, and US$100 billion higher compared than the fiscal year 2022 military budget. Currently, the US military spending has exceeded the total of the next nine countries following itself.
据美国国防部网站发布的消息，美国政府2024年预算案提出为五角大楼拨款8420亿美元。该数额比美国政府提出的2023财年军费预算高出260亿美元，比2022财年高出1000亿美元，创下历史新高。当前，美国军费开支已超过排名其后的9个国家军费开支总和。
According to Reuters' reports, in addition to the US$842 billion allocated to the US Department of Defense, the new budget has also planned to allocate US$44 billion to defense-related projects of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the US Department of Energy (DOE) and other agencies. That would make the total defense-related budget of the US reach up to US$886 billion in the fiscal year 2024, the highest defense budget proposed by the US government in the peacetime.
据路透社报道，除了拨给美国国防部的8420亿美元，新预算案还计划为美国联邦调查局、美国能源部等其他机构的国防相关项目拨款440亿美元，这将使美国2024财年国防相关总预算达到8860亿美元，这是和平年代美国政府提出的最高国防预算数额。
According to a report on the website of the US National Defense Magazine, the US$886 billion military budget is expected to account for 3.2% of the US GDP in 2024, and 47% of the US federal government's discretionary spending.
美国《国防》杂志网站报道称，8860亿美元预计将占美国2024年GDP的3.2%，占美国联邦政府可自由支配开支的47%。
Reuters said that the US Congress would discuss the fiscal year 2024 budget in the coming months, and may further increase military spending on the basis of the budget proposed by the White House.
路透社称，美国国会将在未来几个月讨论2024年预算案。美国国会可能会在白宫提出的预算案基础上进一步增加军费开支。
Still trapped by a false hegemonic dream
“仍被虚假的‘霸权梦’所困”
Yuan Zheng, deputy director and researcher of the American Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that the fundamental purpose of the US in maintaining high military spending is to maintain its own hegemony. In terms of diplomacy, the US has always believed in the law of the jungle, unswervingly recognizing its military strength as an important pillar of the US' global hegemony, and affirming that it is necessary to increase investment in military expenditure to maintain the US' hegemonic position and enhance its so-called ability to intervene in international affairs.
中国社科院美国研究所副所长、研究员袁征表示，美国维持高额军费的根本目的在于维系自身霸权。美国在外交领域一向信奉弱肉强食的丛林法则，认定军事力量是美国全球霸权的重要支柱，坚信若要维护美国霸权地位、提升美国所谓对国际事务的干预能力，就必须在军费上加大投入。
"In recent years, the US has had its strategic focus drawn back to the so-called great power competition, viewing countries like China and Russia as the main 'challenges' and' threats', and hoping to maintain strong military deterrence in the face of the so-called strategic opponents. Therefore, it has continuously increased its military spending, making a dramatically increasing trend in the US military spending. At the same time, the US has kept providing military assistance to Ukraine, resulting in a decline in US domestic ammunition inventory, which requires the purchase of more ammunition to make up for, further pushing up the US military spending. In addition, factors like inflation also have an impact on the rise in military spending", said Yuan.
“美国近年来把战略重点回归到所谓的‘大国竞争’，将中国、俄罗斯等视作主要‘挑战’和‘威胁’，希望在面对‘战略对手’时保持强大的军事威慑力，因此不断追加军费投入，使得美国军事开支增势明显。同时，美国持续对乌进行军事援助，使得美国国内弹药库存下降，需要采购更多弹药来弥补空缺，进一步推高美国的军费支出。此外，通胀因素也对军费上升产生影响。”袁征说。
"In today's world, from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Iran nuclear issue to the South China Sea dispute, many conflicts and disputes have had the shadow of the US behind them," said Zhou Fangyin, vice president of the Guangdong Institute for International Strategy (GIIS). "The US has always regarded military hegemony as a core means to achieve its strategic objectives and hoped to seek other interests through military superiority. At the same time, the US also intends to enhance the confidence of its allies in the US by increasing its military investment, so as to maintain the US-led alliance system."
“当今世界，从俄乌冲突、伊核问题到南海争端，许多冲突和纷争背后都有美国的影子。”广东国际战略研究院副院长周方银说，“美国一直把军事霸权视作实现战略目的核心手段，希望以军事优势谋求其他方面的利益。与此同时，美国还希望通过增加军事投入，增强其盟友对美国的信心，维持美国主导的同盟体系。”
An article titled "Why America remains trapped by false dreams of hegemony" was published recently on the website of the US' bimonthly Foreign Affairs magazine by Andrew Bacevich, a professor emeritus of International Relations and History at Boston University. According to the article, the US foreign policy institutions insist that the world needs more American military power, and the tragic defeats in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have not prevented the US from continuing to bet on military investment. For decades, the US has wasted a great deal of its wealth and sacrificed thousands of American lives due to military misjudgment. According to analysis of the Cost of War project at Brown University, it is estimated that since the 9/11 attacks, the US has spent approximately US$8 trillion on global military operations, the costs of which have far outweighed the gains.
“美国仍被虚假的‘霸权梦’所困。”美国《外交》双月刊网站近日刊登波士顿大学国际关系与历史学荣誉教授安德鲁·巴切维奇的文章称，美国外交政策机构坚持认为世界需要更多美国军事力量，伊拉克战争和阿富汗战争的惨败也没有阻止美国继续在军事行动上“下注”。数十年来，美国在军事上的错误判断浪费了美国大量财富，牺牲了成千上万美国人的生命。据布朗大学“战争成本核算”项目估算，“9·11”事件以来，美国的全球军事行动花费了约8万亿美元，这些军事行动的代价远大于收获。
Dangerous signal
一个危险的信号
High military spending is to continue to support the US military operations overseas. According to data compiled by the US Congressional Research Service, the US media found that from 1798 to 2022, the US launched a total of 469 military operations overseas. In just over 30 years since the end of the Cold War alone, 251 military activities have been launched, far exceeding the total number of over 190 years before the end of the Cold War. The objectives of these military operations involved the vast majority of countries across the world.
高额军费持续支撑美国的海外军事行动。有美国媒体通过梳理美国国会研究服务部的数据发现，从1798年到2022年，美国在海外共发动了469次军事活动，仅冷战结束至今的短短30多年间就发动了251次，数量远超冷战结束前190多年间的总和。这些军事行动的目标涉及世界上绝大多数国家。
Stimulated by a new round of high military spending, the US military plan is to grow even more active. According to the website of US's Defense News, the funds allocated to the US DOE by the US new fiscal year budget will provide a "strong technical and engineering foundation" for the AUKUS trilateral security partnership. A few days ago, the US, the UK, and Australia have just announced a new cooperation plan on nuclear-powered submarines, marking another dangerous step forward in the nuclear proliferation activities of the three countries.
在新一轮高军费的刺激下，美国的军事计划更加活跃。据美国《防务新闻》周刊网站报道，美国2024年新预算案拨给美国能源部的资金，将为美英澳三边安全伙伴关系提供“强有力的技术和工程基础”。日前，美英澳刚刚宣布新的核潜艇合作方案，三国的核扩散行为又迈出危险一步。
Yuan Zheng stated that the US believes in force and is obsessed with increasing military spending and enhancing its ability to intervene in foreign countries. The concept has violated the purposes of the Charter of the United Nations as well as the basic norms of international relations based on international law and runs counter to the trend of peace and development across the world. Currently, in addition to fortifying its military strength, the US is also significantly increasing spending on the research and development and procurement of weapons to promote the modernization of its military equipment, which is a dangerous signal for other countries. This move will stimulate another arms race, exacerbate international tensions, and undermine the global strategic balance.
袁征表示，美国崇信武力，执迷于增加军费开支、提升对外干预能力，这样的理念违背了《联合国宪章》宗旨和以国际法为基础的国际关系基本准则，与世界和平发展的潮流背道而驰。当前，美国在强大军事力量的基础上，还在大幅增加武器研发和采购支出，推进其军事装备现代化，这对其他国家来说是一种危险的信号。此举将刺激军备竞赛，加剧国际紧张局势，破坏全球战略平衡。
"The hike in the US military spending has also rendered relations between major powers even tenser." Yuan said, "The US regards China and Russia as its main strategic competitors, engaging in proxy wars behind the Ukrainian crisis, trying to bring down and consume Russia, while fully containing China constantly under the pretext of the situation in the South China Sea and across the Taiwan Strait. These actions have seriously endangered regional peace and security, brought destabilizing factors to the world, and are by no means favorable for global strategic stability."
“美国大增军费，还使大国关系更加紧张。”袁征说，“美国把中俄作为主要战略竞争对手，在乌克兰危机背后搞代理人战争，试图拖垮、消耗俄罗斯，同时不断借南海、台海局势等对中国进行全力围堵。这些行为严重危害地区和平与安全，给世界带来不安定因素，对全球战略稳定绝不是好事。”
Zhou Fangyin said that the US is currently trapped in a vicious cycle of military spending expansion. On the one hand, in the name of safeguarding world security, the US has significantly increased military spending, creating conflicts around the world. On the other hand, in order to intervene in these conflicts, the US is in need of huge financial support, which will in turn further increase military spending. For many years, it has been hard for the US to extricate itself from the vicious cycle.
周方银表示，美国当前深陷军费扩张的恶行循环。美国一方面以维护世界安全的名义，大幅增加军费开支，在世界各地制造矛盾和冲突。另一方面，为了介入和干预这些冲突，美国又需要庞大的资金支持，因而进一步增加了军费。多年来，美国就在这一循环当中难以自拔。
Editor's note: Originally published on people.com.cn, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
