Since the fall of the USSR do you ever wonder if we don't manufacture our own enemies?

Not referring to 9-11 conspiracy theories, but to the overstatement of the threats opposing us at any given time- a billionaire, Saudi scion with a killer introduction (one that clearly could not have been sustained for any length of time) that is all but forgotten while we continue to inflame the region with our presence, etc. Doesn't this reek, to some significant extent of a military/industrial justification for continued and obscene expenditures or am I simply unaware of what clearly transpires about me? Why isn't the most obvious question addressed more often by even the skeptical or left wing media? OK, I'm stretching the tolerance levels a bit here in order to garner some meaningful answers.