A lot of things are considered in the "military budget", not just tanks, guns, ammunition. This expands to research and development, as well as intelligence gathering (which is off the charts), and probably other things (i.e.
http://otland.net/f21/future-attribute-screening-technology-170482/#post1650314) - "off the books" types of things. I'm sure there is even a black budget we're unaware of as well.
(I know for a fact that every President has their own black budget.) Yes, our budget is high, but necessary to a certain extent. As a citizen, I don't mind sacrificing a little cash every pay check for security and intelligence. What concerns me is
health care. Our health care expenditures are
4x more than our military budget - and exponentially increasing.
They always say, "cut military spending" and actually never do (or do so for a short period, then increase it), nor do they need to. Health care needs to be reformed, it shouldn't cost $500 for a check up and $45,000 for a titanium implant (not including costs of actual surgery). Insurance companies and doctors all over the United States take advantage of government medicaid and medicare systems.
As for overall military strength, I'm pretty sure the USA is the strongest. Mainly because we have the latest in weaponry and technology. But China keeps taking on our debt, they basically own part of the United States (bonds, etc.). I also believe they're trying to buy communication networks here in the states, it was on the news the other day - they're buying our communication companies and establishing networks over here. This is probably not a good thing.
A lot of issues must be addressed, and soon...otherwise, we'll all face dire consequences - and by all, I do mean everyone in the world. Because the USA is the largest consumer nation in the world, if our economy goes, so will yours (9/10 times). This is why when the housing bubble popped in the United States, banks all over the world collapsed. Why? Because banks here in the USA were selling (gambling) our mortgages to people in Europe. Why would someone buy our mortgages? They make money off of the interest. Banks take the short, easy, and unethical way out - this lead to careless spending and extremely risky investments.
TL;DR - It's all fucked up... <_<