US President Donald Trump has renamed the Department of Defence into "the Department of War". Is this merely a change in words, or is it indicative of a policy change?
A review of history and some of Trump's key policy positions show it might be more than what many are thinking.
What is the history of these departments?
The first US department of its kind, between 1776 and 1781, was called the Board of War and Ordnance. From 1789 to 1947, like most countries around the world, it was called the Department of War.
For two years, it was split into the Department of the Army and the Department of the Air Force. In 1949, the entire military was named the Department of Defence, a move designed for what was idealistically hailed as the beginning of an era of peace. Most other countries instituted the same name change for their military establishment.
"I believe Trump is making the right decision for the wrong reasons," David Frank, a professor of communication and political rhetoric at the University of Oregon, told The New Arab.
He points to the country's military actions since World War II, not reflecting a mission of peace. In order for it to be renamed the Department of Defence, he thinks it should change to pro-peace policies.
Trump's anti-war campaign, pro-war presidency
Despite the idea of post-World War peace, the US has been involved in hundreds of conflicts since the end of World War II. These include around 10 major wars, between 100 and 200 military interventions, and at least 100 covert operations by the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency).
Probably the war that most symbolized the country's military overreach was the Vietnam War.
The US-led invasion of Iraq has also continued to lose popularity, and criticism of it was key to Trump's 2016 Republican primary win.
In 2016, Trump set himself apart from other candidates by presenting himself as anti-war. He was able to eliminate front-runner Jeb Bush from the Republican primary by pointing out his brother George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq. He then gained the upper hand against Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, in part, by pointing out her vote for the Iraq War.
In his first term, he removed thousands of US troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. During this time, he also significantly increased drone strikes on Afghanistan and Yemen.
In his second presidential campaign, he showed much more eagerness to engage in conflict. He suggested taking over Greenland, the Panama Canal and Canada. He also suggested turning Gaza into a holiday resort. Since taking office for a second term, his policies in Israel point to his support for the mass displacement of Palestinians and the annexation of the West Bank and possibly Gaza.
Since taking office, he has deployed troops to Los Angeles and Washington, DC, and has named at least five other cities to send the military.
"I think of it as a macho thing. It's almost like they want to be tough guys. You don't mess with us. We're going to take you down," Richard Groper, a lecturer in political science at California State University in Los Angeles, told TNA.
He added that if he were from one of the countries where the US had intervened or threatened to take military action, he would be worried.
What are the discussions surrounding the name change?
On 25 August, during a meeting at the White House with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, Trump he would like to have a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un again. He then said that the Department of Defence could be renamed the Department of War.
"We won the World War I, World War II, it was called the Department of War, and to me that's really what it is, and defence is part of that," the US president said during the meeting.
This was followed by the Republican introduction of legislation to transforming the renaming into law.
"The United States military is not a purely defensive force," Senator Rick Scott of Florida, one of the bill's sponsors, said in a statement. "We are the most lethal fighting force on the face of the planet—ready to defeat any enemy when called upon."
Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, a libertarian and isolationist, has come out against the name change.
Though legislation has not yet been passed, the plaque on the department's building has been changed and there is already a US Department of War website. A search of the US Department of Defence redirects to the Department of War site.