Financial Crisis

To answer simply, the current financial crisis does not pose a security threat to the United States. Realism advocates a strong military in conjunction with a strong economy, and rightfully so. A defendable and strong economy begets a defendable and strong military, and the reverse is just as true. The economy must be able to support the military, and the military must be able to defend the economy should the need. However, a faltering economy in a state as powerful as the United States does not necessarily constitute a security issue. The government in the United States is strong and able enough to keep the economy from falling into such a state of disarray that the nation would be open to foreign invasion. The current crisis does not pose a direct security threat to the United States.
That being said, it certainly does pose a threat to global stability and security. As America’s economic systems falter, they are taking foreign markets down with them. European and Asian markets have begun to decline. As we discussed earlier in the year, economics are very closely tied in with international relations. The inability for governments to provide their citizens with basic living requirements, stemming from a lack of money, leads to radical governments and unstable political situations. When radical governments take over states, they gain the ability to start causing trouble for all sorts of people. Excellent examples of this are Afghanistan and Palestine. If governments are not able to provide for the needs of its citizens, radical organizations can gain power and threaten the security and stability of the region and the globe.