Why $1.4 Trillion in Defense Just Got Rendered Obsolete
Scott Galloway, Anne Applebaum, and Fiona Hill argue that cheap drone warfare and lost alliances have made America's $1.4 trillion defense budget largely ineffective.
The gist
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Low-cost drones and adapted civilian tech have outperformed billion-dollar weapons platforms, suggesting defense spending needs rapid iteration over big legacy procurement.
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The U.S. dropped from controlling about two-thirds to one-third of the world economy's operating system by abandoning values-based alliances after 1945.
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Ukraine treats defense as a startup problem, recruiting civilians into wartime innovation, and could become a third major tech and military hub.
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Regional blocs like the EU and Gulf states are actively reducing dependence on U.S. commitment by building their own independent defense frameworks.
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