U.S. government debt, which has exploded to $16 trillion, represents a threat to national security, experts say.

Repaying the debt, which now totals more than 100 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), eats up money that could otherwise go to defense spending, expenditures on diplomacy and foreign aid.

"A nation with our current levels of unsustainable debt … cannot hope to sustain for very long its superiority from a military perspective, or its influence in world affairs," Adm. Michael Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said last month, CNNMoney reports.

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The interest tab on the debt alone could reach $900 billion a year, according to the news service. That equals 25 percent of the current federal budget and about $200 billion more than annual defense spending.

Interest costs might total 10 percent of GDP by 2035 if Congress and the White House don’t take any action, the Congressional Budget Office forecasts.

Marc Faber, publisher of the Gloom, Boom & Doom report, also sees ominous consequences from excess debt, and not just in the United States.

“History kind of repeats itself. In democracies, you start with good intentions, and then power becomes polarized among a few people. And eventually you have either huge changes in a peaceful fashion through reforms or usually through revolutions,” he tells CNBC.

The United States hasn’t turned to revolution yet. But, “we’re getting closer, and the same in Europe,” Faber says.

Editor's Note: The Truth About the Economy — Government Documents Lead to Eerie Conclusion