To U.S. military expert Col. William Hauser, the United States is no longer the world’s super power.
And at a speech in Graham Memorial Monday, Hauser said the belief that the U.S. is still a military superpower is antiquated and has lead to unnecessary spending.
“A lot of our politicians and a lot of our citizens are living in the past,” he said.
“We’ve got to accept a lesser role — if we don’t we’re going to come to grief.”
A student from UNC’s chapter of the Roosevelt Institute Campus Network opened the event by outlining his suggestions for cutting the defense budget, which Hauser responded to.
The speech ended with a Q&A session between Hauser and the event’s attendees.
The event was hosted by the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation and UNC’s chapter of the Roosevelt Institute.
Laicie Olson, senior policy analyst for the Center for Arms Control, said its core focus is on nuclear weapons, but it also deals with U.S. Congress proceedings.
Olson said Hauser’s ability to speak frankly about issues regarding the U.S. defense budget made him a great candidate to speak to UNC students, especially since the center’s mission is intricately tied to those issues.