Costs of War
Costs of War
Promoting research and public awareness of the human, economic, social, and environmental costs of U.S. war
Costs of War
Promoting research and public awareness of the human, economic, social, and environmental costs of U.S. war
About Costs of War
The Costs of War project publishes public-facing research about the broad consequences of U.S. military operations and spending, including their domestic effects, and the ongoing costs of the U.S. post-9/11 wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and beyond.
Latest Research Papers
It is unusual for reconciliation bills, such as H.R. 1, to include substantial funding for the Department of Defense or other military-related programs in other departments. However, H.R. 1 breaks from precedent by allocating $156 billion to “national defense.”
Since October 7, 2023, over ten percent of the population of Gaza has been directly killed or injured in two years of Israel’s war in Gaza. As of October 3, 2025, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, 67,075 people have been killed and 169,430 people have been injured, totaling 236,505 casualties, out of the approximately 2.2 million people living in Gaza before the war.
Mass population displacement has been a significant feature of the violence experienced in Gaza, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, and the West Bank since October 7, 2023. At least 5.27 million people have fled or been forced to leave their homes in these places (as of early September 2025). This total includes an estimated 1.85 million displaced children under 18 years old.
In the two years since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, the U.S. government has spent $21.7 billion on military aid to Israel. This figure does not include the tens of billions of dollars in arms sales agreements that have been committed for weapons and services that will be paid for and delivered in the years to come.
In the two years since October 7, 2023, the United States has incurred significant costs in a broad set of military actions in support of U.S., Israeli, and allied interests in the wider Middle East. The costs of these actions through September 2025 are estimated to range from U.S. $9.65 - $12.07 billion.
The majority of the federal workforce involves military-related sectors, including the military, homeland security, and more. But military spending is inefficient for employment: spending on education and healthcare would create more jobs while reducing the federal budget.
In five years, from 2020 to 2024, private firms received $2.4 trillion in contracts from the Pentagon, approximately 54% of the department’s discretionary spending of $4.4 trillion over that period.
Since the 2000s, national governments and terrorist groups – from Israel, Syria’s Assad regime and the United States to the Islamic State – have found ways to curtail conflict coverage through myriad means, from repressive policies to armed attack.
Based on interdisciplinary biological, environmental, and anthropological research in Fallujah, Iraq, this report finds that people who have returned to bombarded homes and neighborhoods may face increased risk of negative health impacts from heavy metal exposure, both for themselves and for future generations.
Summary of Key Findings
- In the two years since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, the U.S. government has spent $21.7 billion on military aid to Israel.
- The U.S. has spent an additional $9.65 – $12.07 billion on military operations in Yemen and the wider region since October 7, 2023, for a total of $31.35 – $33.77 billion and counting in U.S. spending on the post-10/7 wars.
- As of October 3, 2025, 67,075 people in Gaza have been killed and 169,430 people injured according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. These 236,505 casualties constitute more than 10% of the pre-war population in Gaza.
- At least 5.27 million people have fled or been forced to leave their homes (as of early September 2025) in the post-Oct.7, 2023 wars in Gaza, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, and the West Bank. This total includes an estimated 1.85 million children under 18.
- Military spending produces an average of 5 jobs per $1 million. The same investment in other sectors creates more employment - nearly 13 jobs in education, 9 in healthcare, and 7-8 in infrastructure and clean energy.
- From 2020 to 2024, private firms received $2.4 trillion in contracts from the Pentagon, approximately 54% of the department’s discretionary spending of $4.4 trillion.
- The expanding tools of political influence used by the arms industry include extensive lobbying, millions in campaign donations, the revolving door, funding think tanks, and involvement in government advisory committees.
- U.S.-backed Israeli military operations since Oct. 7, 2023 will lead to far higher indirect death than direct death rates.
- Over the course of the war in Afghanistan (2001-2021), 24% of U.S. women service members and 1.9% of men experienced sexual assault.
- The “Military-Industrial Complex” is enmeshed with Silicon Valley. A growing portion of Pentagon spending goes to large tech firms.
- War contributes significantly to climate change: The U.S. Defense Department is one of the world’s top greenhouse gas emitters.
- Americans are inundated with cultural products that promote militarism – many of them influenced by the Pentagon. From movies to sporting events, the entertainment we consume normalizes war, reducing reflection about U.S. policy choices and their consequences.
Costs
Costs of War research examines the human toll of U.S. military operations and spending, for U.S. service members, veterans, military contractors, and allies; and for civilians killed and displaced.
Costs of War research tallies U.S. spending on war and military operations and examines the broader economic consequences of this spending.
Costs of War research documents the social and political costs of U.S. war and militarism. These include the domestic effects of U.S. wars on populations at home.
In the News
See All The Eurasian Times cited Costs of War research on the costs of war in Afghanistan.
Reuters cited research on the portion of the Pentagon budget that goes to weapons contractors.
Antiwar.com cited research on U.S. military spending on the post-10/7 wars.
An op-ed in The Timberjay (Minn.) cited Costs of War research on the costs of the post-9/11 wars.
Arab Press cited Costs of War research on the human costs of the war in Afghanistan.
Costs of War research on the human costs of the post-9/11 wars was cited in Common Dreams.
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Costs of War on Trending Globally
Trending Globally is a regular podcast featuring insight on today's critical global challenges. With Brown University scholars, practitioners, and students, the discussions bridge research, politics, and policy.
More Podcasts:
William Hartung & Ben Freeman, “The Trillion Dollar War Machine with William Hartung and Ben Freeman” Security Dilemma: John Quincy Adams Society November 14, 2025
Tanner Mirrlees, "Covertly Manufacturing Consent for US Imperialism and Militarism in Hollywood" This is Hell, March 19, 2025
Heidi Peltier, "He Audited the Pentagon. Here's Where the Waste Really Is" More Perfect Union, March 13, 2025
William Hartung, "The US has given $250 billion dollars to Israel" Let's Just Talk with Hammi, December 4, 2024
Roberto Gonzalez, "La Big Tech Californienne Serait-Elle Devenue Trumpiste?" Radio Télévision Suisse, November 19, 2024
William Hartung, "Behind the News: The Scale of US Aid to Israel w/ William Hartung" Jacobin Radio, October 28, 2024
Stephanie Savell, "Stephanie Savell Dives Into the Costs of War, in Lives, in Dollars, in Environmental Destruction, and Erosion of Freedom" KSQD.org, October 20, 2024
Sophia Stamatapoulou-Robbins, "Gaza: Death Outlives War" Arab Talk, October 20, 2024
Neta Crawford, "Military Power: Balancing Security and Climate Threats" Climate One, August 30, 2024
William Hartung, Roxana Tiron "The Military Industrial Complexity" The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart, June 13, 2024
Roberto J. González "The New Military Industrial Complex with Dr. Roberto J. González" The Muckrake Political Podcast, May 7, 2024
Linda Bilmes, "The Ghost Budget: How U.S. war spending went rogue, wasted billions, and how to fix it" PolicyCast, April 1, 2024
Andrea Mazzarino, “Welcome to Donald Trump's U.S.A.” TomDispatch, November 30, 2025
Catherine Lutz, “Magical Thinking” FrankNews, November 25, 2025
Catherine Lutz & Anne Lutz Fernandez, “Ask Americans - they don't want a war on Venezuela” Responsible Statecraft, November 21, 2025
William Hartung & Ashley Gate, “Doomed, Not Domed?” TomDispatch, November 17, 2025
William Hartung, “"The Trillion Dollar War Machine": William Hartung on DoD Funding. Israel, Tarrifs, and More” Democracy Now!, November 15, 2025 (also interviewed on Breaking Points, Security Dilemma, and Undercurrents)
David Vine, “Peace in Gaza Depends on Palestinians' Right to Remain - and Return” Foreign Policy In Focus, October 24, 2025
William Hartung, “The Gaza Ceasefire Deal is a Start, But It's Only a Start” Inkstick, October 14, 2025
Nick Turse, “On the Precipice of Authoritarian Rule” TomDispatch, October 16, 2025
William Hartung “$21.7 billion in US military aid has fueled Israel's war on Gaza” Responsible Statecraft, October 7. 2025
William Hartung "The Role of $21.7 Billion in U.S. Military Aid to Israel" Background Briefing with Ian Masters, October 7, 2025
Andrea Mazzarino, “MAGA Men, Rage, and the Road to Nowhere” TomDispatch, October 7, 2025
William Hartung, “Can Warriors Stop Endless Wars?” TomDispatch, September 30, 2025
William Hartung, "The Role of Information in Building a New World" TomDispatch, September 2, 2025
Neta Crawford, "Gaza: civilian death toll outpaces other modern wars" The Conversation, August 27, 2025
Andrea Mazzarino, "The Bully in Donald Trump's Bully Pulpit" TomDispatch, August 26, 2025
William Hartung, "We Have a Trillion Dollar Pentagon Budget. Now What?" Forbes, August 25, 2027
William Hartung, "Entering a Golden Age for War Profiteers" TomDispatch, July 27, 2025
Linda Bilmes, "Soft power delivers big returns, but Trump is slashing it anyway" Boston Globe, July 24, 2025
William Hartung, "Billions for weapons, rather than troops, won't make us safer" LA Times, July 22, 2025
Andrea Mazzarino, "Illness and Endless Wars" TomDispatch, July 8, 2025
William Hartung, "Feeding the Warfare State" TomDispatch, July 1, 2025
William Hartung, "Another Iraq? Military Expert Warns U.S. Has No Real Plan If It joins Israel’s War on Iran" Democracy Now!, June 20, 2025