In recent years US spending on the military, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and military aid to particular allies has exceeded US foreign development aid by more than 10 times. This is despite the fact that the administration, its Republican supporters, the Democrats and the vast majority of the foreign policy community all agree in principle that such development is critical to the struggle against Islamist extremism.

Even odder is the fact that, although US security structures remain profoundly shaped by their cold war origins, in this regard the US establishment has forgotten its own successful record during the cold war, especially in parts of east and south-east Asia.