Trump's military rebuilding akin to Roosevelt's efforts

AMERICAN presidents have used the United States Navy as an instrument of coercive diplomacy. In the early 20th century, an interventionist American president launched his "Great White Fleet". Now in the early 21st, another president is preparing his "Great Rebuilding" of the military. They employed overwhelming US military power to attain foreign policy goals.

Both these gestures - then-president Theodore Roosevelt's announcement to the world of the arrival of America as naval power in 1907, and the proposal of President Donald Trump to rebuild the military - aimed to seek diplomatic strength through military muscle.

Soon after becoming president, Mr Trump made a commitment "to begin a great rebuilding of the armed services of the United States - developing a plan for new planes, new ships, new resources and new tools for our men and women in uniform".