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Dr. James Hentz and Dr. Spencer Bakich of Virginia Military Institute's international studies department speak with Maj. Sherri Tombarge about the U.S. defense budget and how it relates to America's foreign policy, particularly in the context of China's growing economic and military strength. In Hentz’s “unholy trinity” model, the dynamics of fast money, slow money, and very slow money have real implications for U.S. standing in relation to China and other potential adversaries on the world stage.

Hentz is professor and head of the VMI Department of International Studies and Political Science. He is working on the book Wars Across States in Africa and is editor-in-chief of the quarterly journal African Security. He is also co-editor of a forthcoming book on Boko Haram.

Bakich is author of Success and Failure in Limited War: Information and Strategy in the Korean, Vietnam, Persian Gulf and Iraq Wars and teaches courses on topics including U.S.-China relations and America's national security policies.

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