Comment by jacquesm

I'm of two minds on this. On the one hand I realize that with Russia still very much a presence on the stage (though vastly diminished from the 80's) there will always be a need for vigilance.

On the other hand: Europe has come a long way through peace, much further than it ever did because of war. To see how much of the American budget goes to weaponry and to see what terrible shape the country overall is in is a good warning that a country that gives high priority to its military will have to take that money from other places. Education, healthcare, infrastructure. All of these will suffer if the military takes too large a part of the budget. And once you have such an MIC you can't just get rid of it, after all, those people employed there would like to continue to be employed. And so the beast starts to feed on itself, and before you know it your countrymen and women are going to be dying in wars of conquest because what's the point of having all those toys if you can never use them?

So, it's a dilemma, and not one that is easily resolved. But the fact is that Germany and Europe as a consequence got much further because of peace than it ever did because of war. Let's hope it stays that way, the alternative is not a pretty one.