What should voters make of claims from Republican presidential candidates and lawmakers that our military is weak and underfunded? According to Miriam Pemberton, a research fellow and defense expert at the Institute for Policy Studies, voters should be very wary.

Pemberton, in this segment of our “Burning Issues” video series, explains that the United States military remains the most powerful on earth by far. We spend more on our military than the next seven largest militaries combined, and our military spending in inflation adjusted terms is higher than it has been since World War II. That’s a key part of the context, she says, that arguments for significant increases in military spending need to be weighed.

Of the presidential candidates, Pemberton says, only Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders has seriously questioned the need for increased military spending and the more interventionist policies of his rivals.

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Watch the interview on Campaign for America’s Future’s website.