Notes

‘We’re going to be in a new world.’ The combined military budget of the United States is now nearly one trillion dollars a year—and some of its programs are truly enormous. The F-35 fighter jet, for instance, relies on several hundred suppliers that together employ about a quarter of a million workers. In 2015, the U.S. Navy had 271 active surface vessels; Congress has now called for no less than 355, while the incoming U.S. president, Donald Trump, believes the number should have more than 400. Meanwhile, the United States is modernizing its stockpiles of nuclear weapons—to the tune of US$49 billion a year. What’s behind all this?

Today, Adam Tooze explores how America’s rivalries with other great powers—Russia, to be sure, but principally China—are spurring America’s political leaders to strengthen its military might, entrench its alliances, and recalibrate its strategic thinking for a shifting future.

—Gustav Jönsson