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Man, I really hate paying my car insurance. It’s really costly, and I’m just a poor college student. It seems unnecessary, because I’m a pretty good driver (if I do say so myself). But, in my wiser moments, I realize the importance of sending that monthly check to GEICO. The sole purpose of car insurance is to protect me when I need protection most. All the safe driving in the world can’t defend me from the madman in the opposite lane.

It’s expensive, but worth it. The United States military is a lot like my car insurance, and with an annual budget of over $380 billion, it’s the most expensive insurance policy there is. But I believe every penny is well spent. The military might of the United States not only provides protection to the 260 million citizens of the United States; it helps add stability to a very uncertain and unstable world.

However, judging by the signs and slogans I see on Bruin Walk and in front of the federal building every day, I take it that a lot of people disagree with me. Our generation has grown up in a unique era in which the United States reigns as the world hegemon and is seemingly invulnerable to threats from other powerful nations. The largest battles of our lifetimes have been fought in countries like Iraq, Afghanistan and Bosnia. The outcomes of these wars were as certain as a match between the Lakers and a junior high basketball team.

Everyone agrees that the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks were horrible, but they were initiated by terrorist bands countered by small bands within the CIA, not the full military might of the United States. Thus, recent wars requiring only a fraction of our military might make it easy to believe that a strong, large military is a bit of an anachronism.

But I would argue that the reason our lifetimes have been marked by only small conflicts is precisely because of our large military. According to international budgetary numbers provided by the Center for Defense Information, the United States spends more on defense than the next 25 highest-spending nations combined. The defense expenditures of Russia, China, or France are just fractions of the total U.S. military budget. By maintaining the world’s strongest military, we discourage the emergence of a potential aggressive challenger. Large-scale conflicts like the Cold War and World War II are fought between near equals. Germany and Japan wouldn’t have taken on the Allied forces unless they thought they could win. The Cold War ended because the Soviet Union just couldn’t match the United States in military expenditures.

Because of the strength and efficiency of the United States economy, we are able to have both guns and butter. We can have the world’s largest military and still enjoy one of the world’s highest standards of living. Other nations simply cannot. By leading the international community in military spending we can stay off threats from other large, powerful nations.

But what about rogue nations and terrorist threats? How do we defend against small “rogue nations,” like Iraq and North Korea, that regularly snub international law and seek to gain military equality by developing weapons of mass destruction? Clearly, a large military is preferable for combating these threats as well. Whether you are for or against the current war in Iraq, you have to admit that it is perhaps one of the most efficient and “humane” wars ever fought in history. In our attempt to disarm the Iraqi regime we are spending billions ($75 billion in fact) to prevent as many civilian and military deaths as possible.

If we spent less on our military each year, it would be impossible to use precision weapons capable of demolishing a target, while leaving the neighboring civilian facilities unharmed. A large military can quickly and surgically eliminate threats posed by small, rogue nations by doing as little damage as possible to accomplish its goals. In this way, the United States maintains a certain level of civility and world stability.

In a perfect world our annual defense budget would be zero, and I firmly believe that is a noble goal to attain. But in the dangerous world we live in the United States must continue to lead the world in military spending – both for our own defense and for the stability of the world. Just like my car insurance, the military can be very expensive. But when accidents happen and trouble arises, you’re glad you have full coverage.

Ludlow is a second-year political science student. E-mail him at dludlow@media.ucla.edu.