Christopher Blasts Diplomacy Cuts Slip In ‘Diplomatic Readiness’ Puts Burden On Military, He Says

U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher accused Congress Friday of endangering U.S. security by cutting so deeply into spending for diplomacy that future administrations will be unable to respond to international crises without early use of military force.

“If we rely on our military strength alone, we will end up using our military all the time,” Christopher said in a speech to the West Point corps of cadets.

The address was crafted to give the future Army leaders a stake in defending what soldiers often dismiss as “striped-pants cookie-pushing” - their jibe about the dispensing of U.S. assistance as part of the work of formally attired diplomats.

“In the real world, the failure to maintain diplomatic readiness will inevitably shift the burden to America’s military,” Christopher said.

Clinton administration officials note that the State Department budget squeeze has intensified in the last two years, when Republicans controlled Congress. But Christopher said spending for diplomacy, foreign aid and other nonmilitary foreign activities has declined steadily over the past dozen years, under Democrats and Republicans alike.

“Since 1984, our international affairs spending has fallen by 51 percent” after adjusting for inflation, Christopher said. “The total amount the United States spends on international affairs now constitutes just 1.2 percent of the federal budget - a tiny fraction of the amount we must spend when foreign crises erupt into war.”

State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said the foreign affairs budget, which was just under $20 billion a year when the Clinton administration took office, now is $2.5 billion a year lower. He said cuts have been especially severe in U.S. support for international organizations such as the United Nations. Washington has fallen far behind in payment of its dues for U.N. peacekeeping and other operations.

Appeals by federal department heads for more funding typically generate little public sympathy. For the secretary of state, the problem is aggravated because foreign aid and other international operations have little support, with polls showing that most Americans think foreign spending is far more lavish than it is.