Under the Influence: Gates Going Out on a Limb

Under the Influence: Gates Going Out on a Limb

Last week, while I was busy writing about two fascinating scenarios for the future of U.S. influence, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates was delivering the latest in a long line of brilliant speeches, this time in Chicago. In it, he nailed down exactly the kinds of concrete changes that must happen in order to retool the institutions of American foreign policy for the radical challenges of the next two decades.

The speech underscored that, even as Gates emerged victorious this week from a Washington budget battle, there's a more massive challenge looming.

At first glance, the battle in Washington was over whether or not the military should order more F-22 Raptor fighter jets. At more than $350 million each, 187 have already been budgeted, and a row erupted over how many more, if any, the country actually needs. Gates said none. President Obama backed him, declaring in a memo sent to the Senate Armed Services Committee, "I will veto any bill that supports acquisition of F-22s beyond the 187 already funded by Congress,"

Keep reading for free!

Get instant access to the rest of this article by submitting your email address below. You'll also get access to three articles of your choice each month and our free newsletter:

Or, Subscribe now to get full access.

Already a subscriber? Log in here .

What you’ll get with an All-Access subscription to World Politics Review:

A WPR subscription is like no other resource — it’s like having a personal curator and expert analyst of global affairs news. Subscribe now, and you’ll get:

  • Immediate and instant access to WPR’s fully searchable library of 16,000+ articles
  • Daily articles with original analysis, written by leading topic experts, delivered to you every weekday
  • Weekly in-depth reports on important issues and countries
  • Daily links to must-read news and analysis from top sources around the globe, curated by our keen-eyed team of editors
  • The Weekly Wrap-Up email, with highlights of the week’s most important coverage, and what’s to come.
  • Completely ad-free reading.

And all of this is available to you when you subscribe today.

More World Politics Review