Safe isn't the same as economically powerful.

Look at Bhutan with their Gross National Happiness as an alternative.

Are you in America? No one in the Us military is giving up lives to keep citizens safe.

For other countries, it’s because the nation state is the current agreed upon divider for certain things like borders.

To moralize nationalism is weird and anti-humanity.

What are they giving up their lives for? American soldiers die in duty every year.

Like the arbitrary bombing of Venezuelans, this isn't to make Americans safer but to make other countries more dangerous.

That take says a lot about your perception of power.

Care to elaborate? In most developed countries, participation in the armed forces is a volunteer position and considered a form of employment. Even in countries with mandatory military service, the term is finite and the bulk of it is spent in training. As such, soldiers on the front line are typically active-duty veterans that are effectively employees. They can quit if they want to.