How Important are America’s Allies?

The role of America’s allies will continue to be incredibly valuable, and I do not know of any responsible leader who wants us to walk away from these relationships.  Their importance was clearly demonstrated when the UN approved Operation Desert Storm in 1991.  The bulk of the military burden was then placed on the United States because we were and still are the only nation with power projection capabilities.

There is no other nation that comes close to having America’s technical ability.  We are the only nation with five global command centers and carrier battle groups in every ocean.  When Germany agreed to send peacekeepers to Afghanistan in 2001, they had to lease transport aircraft from the Ukraine. Many Americans have forgotten that the cost of Operation Desert Storm was $54 billion, but America’s allies (primarily Kuwait and Saudi Arabia) paid for everything.