The cost of the election campaigns of two US presidential hopefuls, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, till October 19, 2016 has totaled $2.1bn, which is equivalent to the budget of United States Institute of Peace for a period of 630 months.

 Based on US officials’ claims, the said institute’s duty is to assist the promotion of global peace, stability, and security.

The US military plays an active role in the majority of disputes across the world. Washington waged wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, leaving Middle East in turbulence, ever since.

The US has taken advantage of its military forces on several occasions to somehow dominate the world.

In the meantime, the US statesmen claim that the American taxpayers’ money is only allocated for protection of US security and maintenance of peace, security, and stability across the globe. Meanwhile, 39% of the American taxpayers’ money is earmarked for the US army.

The US army has 1.4 million active personnel and 1.1 million reserves. Every year, a staggering amount of $581bn is imposed on the American people to pay the US army personnel and to provide arms for them.

According to Carnegie Research Institute’s study in the year 1999, the budget which is allocated for prevention of disputes in different parts of the world is sixty times more effective than the budget that is earmarked for removal of disputes, after their emergence.

Despite the US officials’ claims about protection of global peace, stability, and security, the budget earmarked by the US administration for prevention of global disputes is negligible. The US military academies receive $1bn per annum from the US federal government.

However, the budget of the only organization in the US which officially operates to prevent deadly global disputes is much less than the budget allocated for American military academies.

United States Institute of Peace was founded by the US Congress in the year 1984. It receives $40m a year from the US federal government, which stands at $3.3m per month.

MR/SS