US Defense Politics: The Origins of Security Policy / Edition 3

by Harvey M. Sapolsky, Eugene Gholz, Caitlin Talmadge

Overview

This new textbook seeks to explain how US defense and national security policy is formulated and conducted. The focus is on the role of the president, Congress, political partisans, defense industries, lobbies, science, the media, and interest groups, including the military itself, in shaping policies. It examines the following key themes: US grand strategy; who joins America's military; how and why weapons are bought; the management of defense; intra- and inter-service relations; the roles of the president and Congress in controlling the military; the effects of 9/11 on security policy, homeland security, and government reorganizations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138657649
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	01/14/2017
Edition description:	Revised
Pages:	278
Product dimensions:	6.75(w) x 9.75(h) x (d)

About the Author

Harvey M. Sapolsky is Emeritus Professor of Public Policy and Organization at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA, and the former Director of the MIT Security Studies Program.

Eugene Gholz is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame, USA.

Caitlin Talmadge is an Associate Professor of Security Studies at the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, USA.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations x Preface xi Acknowledgments xiv
1 Organizing for defense 1 A short history 3 Enduring questions 8
2 America's security strategy 14 American power 14 Dilemmas of American grand strategy 16 Post-Cold War grand strategy alternatives 18 Constraints on American security policy 21 The American way of warfare 23
3 Who fights America's wars? 27 The different systems 28 The Guard and Reserves 31 Who volunteers? 34 Unanticipated consequences of the AVF 39 Socializing the force 40
4 The military and national politics 43 Not above politics anymore 43 Soldiers' personal politics 45 Partisan national security policy? 47 Resisting control 50 The Goldwater-Nichols reform 53 Civilians push back 56 Controlling professionals 58
5 The political economy of defense 61 The defense budget 62 Replacing public arsenals with private firms 66 How private arsenals work 68 A cyclical business 71 Regulation, not industrial policy 71 The strangest of customers 74
6 The weapons acquisition process 80 The weapons acquisition scorecard 81 Two types of uncertainty 84 Seeking reform 88 Making it worse 90 Making it work 92
7 Managing defense 96 Management under constraints 96 Managing to do what? 98 Robert Strange McNamara 100 Donald Rumsfeld 104 Managing the unmanageable 108
8 Service politics 110 The US Marine Corps 110 The US Army 116 The US Navy 118 The US Air Force 123 The US Special Operations Command 126 Jointness 127
9 Congress, special interests, and presidents 130 Little interest in oversight 131 Superspecial interests as "cargo cults" 135 Presidents react to opportunities 138 The politics of national security policymaking 143
10 Homeland security 145 Recognizingthreats to the homeland 145
"Don't just stand there, reorganize!" 148 More planning, please 151 Rise of the first responders 152 WMD 154
11 Preparing for the next war 158 Markets versus planning 159 Public versus private 160 Experts versus politics 161 Centralization versus decentralization 163 Hail confusion and indecision 164 Glossary 166 Notes 172 Index 186

Editorial Reviews

'US Defense Politics is an insightful and versatile text for courses on defense and national security. The authors combine an accessible introduction to the issues with sophisticated arguments and overviews of important debates in national security. It is an essential resource for instructors teaching both advanced undergraduates and graduate students.'— Risa Brooks, Marquette University, USA

'This book is an outstanding primer for educating defense analysts and public policy scholars! I wish I'd had it as a student, I learned from reading it now, and I look forward to teaching from it.'— Kori Schake, American Enterprise Institute, Washington DC, USA

'A systematic and accessible treatment of a vital topic most Americans take for granted: raising, maintaining, equipping, and guiding the vast military establishment. Broad enough to be useful, but provocative enough to be interesting [...] People who critically engage this book will be better prepared as citizens to shape defense policy for the new era.' — Peter Feaver, Duke University, USA

Praise for the 3rd edition:

'I commend this third edition of US Defense Politics to anyone looking to understand the major cross-currents that shape US security dynamics. Written with expert insight and drawing on a rich set of historical and contemporary examples, the book provides a one-stop shop on the issues that decision makers, elected officials, and military leaders have faced for the past seventy years, and those that will shape defense policy well into the future.' — Kathleen H. Hicks, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), USA

'US Defense Politics is an insightful and versatile text for courses on defense and national security. The authors combine an accessible introduction to the issues with sophisticated arguments and overviews of important debates in national security. It is an essential resource for instructors teaching both advanced undergraduates and graduate students.'— Risa Brooks, Marquette University, USA

'This book is an outstanding primer for educating defense analysts and public policy scholars! I wish I'd had it as a student, I learned from reading it now, and I look forward to teaching from it.'— Kori Schake, American Enterprise Institute, Washington DC, USA

'A systematic and accessible treatment of a vital topic most Americans take for granted: raising, maintaining, equipping, and guiding the vast military establishment. Broad enough to be useful, but provocative enough to be interesting [...] People who critically engage this book will be better prepared as citizens to shape defense policy for the new era.' — Peter Feaver, Duke University, USA

Praise for the 3rd edition:

'I commend this third edition of US Defense Politics to anyone looking to understand the major cross-currents that shape US security dynamics. Written with expert insight and drawing on a rich set of historical and contemporary examples, the book provides a one-stop shop on the issues that decision makers, elected officials, and military leaders have faced for the past seventy years, and those that will shape defense policy well into the future.' — Kathleen H. Hicks, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), USA

From the Publisher