Is the USA powerful because of its military or its economy? | World Defense

Is the USA powerful because of its military or its economy?

saastil

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I know that these things are often tied together, but I'm wondering... if America were to lose either its military strength or its economic strength, would we still be able to hold onto our international bases and command the respect of many world leaders?
 

Tigoci

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I think that tying them together [economy and military] is absolutely necessary to understand the larger picture.
America has, as a nation, a very strong economy. An advanced army needs money, and lots of 'em.

If the US didn't have economic prosperity, it would not be able to maintain one of the worlds largest and most advanced armed forces. The US armed forces is in a special position, in the way that they're basically everywhere. Supplying and maintaining bases and outposts all over the world is expensive, but it also requires a very sophisticated infrastructure. This all requires money, and they would not be able to continually have the most advanced forces, if they don't maintain a large and robust economy.

To be clear, any superpower needs military power to stay in a position as a superpower. This can't be done without a large economy, so I'd say they're equally important, leaning towards economy.
 

zenfive

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As said above, it's not possible to run a military the size of the United State's if you don't have a very big, robust economy. The US spends more than the next 10 biggest armies in the world combined, so that shows you how much money they put into it. So you can't look at them both as separate entities. That being said, it doesn't mean that you need a large army to have sufficient amount of economic success, so I don't think their mutually dependent on each other either.
 

morgan_titan

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As already mentioned, the two are quite closely linked. If the US were to lose its civil economic prowess, it may simply move towards a military economy like it did in WWII in order to maintain superiority. I could definitely see this as a possibility, and it may even help spur more manufacturing and production within the US, and a move away from reliance on foreign produced goods.
 

kestas57

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Both. Also, the country's cultural influence is important. Firstly, as we all know the military is the most powerful in the world. The economy is also the most powerful in the world. Then, when we think about culture, we have to remember that the US has influenced most of the world and has spread western thought across the world.
 

orangesunset

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You need a strong economy to manufacture and equip a large military. In 1940 the US military was non existant, within two years USA had built up a military larger then Nazi Germany because they had a huge economy.

Sun Tzu spends 50% of his time talking about economics. That is because in most cases that is what wins and loses wars.
 

horse next door

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Both. It began first with the US having a tremendous economy, and through that they built up their superior military.
 

tipoywizard

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Both. US Military is the worlds strongest and its economy is the world's largest (Nominal). If a country have both the military might and great economic influence I think it will be respected by the rest of the world. Don't get me wrong this is just my opinion.
 

terryse

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I know that these things are often tied together, but I'm wondering... if America were to lose either its military strength or its economic strength, would we still be able to hold onto our international bases and command the respect of many world leaders?[/QUOTE
For as long as you are the Superpower, you are on top. Look what happened when USSR was no longer on the top post, economically the state crumbled and militarily divided.
 

dyanmarie25

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Both military and economy strengths of USA are very important factors of it being a powerful state. Also, USA has been totally influential to the world.
 
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