Global Trends the United States

Global Trends

The United States has the unenviable task of being the "policeman" the world following the end of the Cold War thus remaining the only global superpower. The result of which is that almost every wars and conflicts that occurred since then in any corner of the globe, America's fighting men and women have been deployed and saw action either in combat, support roles or both. When the terrorist attacks occurred in September 11, 2001, the American military became the focus once again in a new war waged against "unseen enemies" lurking everywhere. With all these happening, it was not surprising to see a rise in military budgets and increase in recruitment in order to fill the various missions of the armed services. As we enter the second decade of the 21st century, there has been a tremendous shift in the geopolitical situation. "Al-Qaeda is weaker today than at any time since 9/11. Its capacity to pull off a 9/11-scale attack on the U.S. homeland is miniscule. (Ratnesar, 2011)" The group has been weakened further with the death of their leader, Osama Bin Laden. Aside from this, the U.S. involvement in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq has become less popular especially since billions of dollars have been spent on these operations. There is a clamor for the last few years especially with the Obama administration to cut back on military spending and the savings of which can be best used to continually help recover from the recent recession.

The above are but a few global trends affecting not only the military but the nation as well. Those in the active armed services particularly may need to look at options now in anticipation of a reduction in force. No less than Defense Secretary Robert Gates himself announced in May 2011 that "defense spending is about to enter a steep decline that may force the Pentagon to abandon some military missions, shrink the armed forces and perhaps limit the U.S. role in the world (Burns, 2011)." More than likely in the next five to seven years, there will be several military personnel who will be discharged in order to fulfill the requirements of the defense cuts. One of the positive aspects to all this is that there are several career counseling and orientation programs available within and outside of the military. These provide valuable information on "life after the military" and how to go about reintegrating in the civilian world. Most of those who leave, especially the younger ones, can opt to go back to school and earn a college degree (for those who do not have one) or even a master's or doctorate degree.