At the beginning of his term of office, Barack Obama effectively raised the same hopes that were raised in the eighties by Mikhail Gorbachev, but in contrast to the politician behind Perestroika, the US president has been very quick to disappoint the world.
He has just announced an unprecedented budget plan: 3.8 trillion dollars for 2011, aimed at increasing defence expenditure and cutting internal costs.
Obama is gunning for a 44-billion-dollar increase in the US military budget. If Barack Obama’s proposal is approved, the Pentagon’s budget will reach 708 billion dollars. The White House is also asking Congress to increase expenditure on the United States nuclear arsenal by over five billion dollars over the next five years.
Obama wants to obtain additional funds despite his commitment to reducing the US arsenal in the pursuit of a world free of nuclear weapons.
If the increase in expenditure is approved, international tension will undoubtedly rise.
*Translated by Simon Bruni*
