And once again, we are faced with a similar choice with respect to Iran. Happily, thanks to the resolve of George W. Bush, we're in a much better position now than the Allies were in 1938. Bush took significant action, and we have a tremendous strategic advantage of the sort that the Allies had largely surrendered in the years between WWI and WWII.
Buchanan ("Unnecessary.." p349) quoting historian AJP Taylor (1961):
"In 1938-1939, the last peacetime year, Germany spent on armaments about 15% of her gross national product. The British proportion was almost exactly the same. German expenditure on armaments was actually cut down after Munich and remained at this lower level, so that British production of aeroplanes, for example, was way ahead of German by 1940.
"When war broke out in 1939, Germany had 1,450 modern fighter planes and 800 bombers, Great Britain and France had 950 fighters and 1,300 bombers. The Germans had 3,500 tanks; Great Britain and France had 3,850.
"In each case Allied intelligence estimated German strength at more than twice the true figure. As usual, Hitler was thought to have planned and prepared for a great war. In fact, he had not."
By way of comparisons -- during WWII, British & German war spending rose to circa 80% of their GDP, with the US at about 40%.
During Korea, US defense spending rose to 15%.
During Vietnam, around 10%.
During Reagan's military buildup, under 8%.
In today's WOT, the US spends about 4% on defense.
The EU spends 2% of their higher GDP on defense, making their total more than half of the US number. But one has to wonder, what are they actually spending all that money on?
Key point: the US and EU together account for 75% of the world's military budgets.