Christopher Assails Diplomacy Fund Cuts

Secretary of State Warren Christopher accused Congress on Friday of endangering U.S. security by cutting so deeply into spending for diplomacy that future administrations will be unable to respond to international crises without early use of military force.

“If we rely on our military strength alone, we will end up using our military all the time,” Christopher said in a speech to the West Point corps of cadets.

The address was crafted to give the nation’s future Army leaders a stake in defending what soldiers often dismiss as “striped-pants cookie-pushing”--their jibe about the dispensing of U.S. assistance as part of the work of formally attired diplomats.

“In the real world, the failure to maintain diplomatic readiness will inevitably shift the burden to America’s military,” Christopher said.

Clinton administration officials note that the State Department budget squeeze has intensified in the last two years under a Republican-controlled Congress.

But Christopher said expenditures for diplomacy, foreign aid and other nonmilitary foreign activities have declined steadily over the last dozen years, under Democrats and Republicans alike.

“Since 1984, our international affairs spending has fallen by 51%” after adjusting for inflation, Christopher said. “The total amount the United States spends on international affairs now constitutes just 1.2% of the federal budget--a tiny fraction of the amount we must spend when foreign crises erupt into war.”

State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said the foreign affairs budget, which was less than $20 billion a year when the Clinton administration took office, now is $2.5 billion less a year.

He said cuts have been especially severe in U.S. support for international organizations such as the United Nations.

Washington has fallen far behind in payment of its dues for U.N. peacekeeping and other operations.

“We’re the largest deadbeat donor in the world at the United Nations, and we’re not proud of that,” Burns said.

Appeals by federal department heads for more funding typically generate little public sympathy. For the secretary of state, the problem is aggravated because foreign aid and other international operations have little support; polls show most Americans perceive foreign spending to be far more lavish than it actually is.

By choosing West Point for his speech, Christopher sought to tap into the constituency that has long supported Pentagon budgets.

“Diplomacy that is not backed by the credible threat or use of force can be hollow--and ultimately dangerous,” he said. “But if we do not use diplomacy to promote our vital interests, we will surely find ourselves defending them on the battlefield.

“Just as military readiness requires maintaining forces and bases around the world, so diplomatic readiness requires keeping embassies open and trained personnel posted around the world,” he said.

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Christopher said budget pressures have forced the administration to close 30 embassies and consulates since he became secretary of state.

“We cannot advance American interests by lowering the American flag,” he said.

Although department officials sometimes recall fondly the spending levels of the 1970s and 1980s, an official said the administration does not expect the next Congress to vote for major increases. But, he added, “at a minimum, we hope to arrest the decline.”