Describe how the level of U.S. military expenditures has varied as a percentage of GDP since 1945 . Provide a brief discussion of what caused the level of military expenditures to vary over the years

What will be an ideal response?

In 1945, military expenditures as a percentage of GDP were 41 percent as a result of World War II. They declined to about 5 percent in 1950 with the end of WWII. By 1955, however, the beginning of the cold war with the Soviet Union and the Korean conflict caused military expenditures as a percentage of GDP to top 10 percent. They slowly declined until the beginning of the Vietnam War where they increased to around 8 percent of GDP. After the Vietnam War they declined to about 5 percent until President Reagan pushed for more military expenditures during the 1980s to help with the cold war against the Soviet Union. After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989, military expenditures began falling to about 3 percent of GDP, although they have ticked up slightly in response to the September 11th attacks in 2001 .