US defense spending is 5% of GDP
Several other countries are spending more. The US either wants to continue to be a world power, or we will disarm unilaterally.
National Military Expenditure In The World - as % of National GDP
http://www.blatantworld.com/feature/the_world/military_expenditure_as_percentage_of_gdp.html
Notice: Pretty much all 27 countries with higher defense budgets as a percentage of GDP are either not all that large, or do not have a strong economy. China has the world’s second largest economy, but that’s with over a billion people. We have the world’s largest economy (~15 Trillion GDP out of global GDP of ~60 Trillion), so we can spend much less as a percentage of our GDP and still have a large, effective military force.
Why does ....as a percentage of GDP matter? What matters is the amount of metal we can put on target. By that measure we spend more than all possible advisories combined.