Full name: The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War

Author: Andrew J. Bacevich Year: 2005 Rank: Rating: Original Rating: Pop Rating: Genres/categories: Politics, History, Non Fiction, War/Military Purchase/reserch links: LibraryThing Goodreads Amazon ISBNs: 9780199931767

In this provocative book, Andrew Bacevich warns of a dangerous dual obsession that has taken hold of Americans, conservatives, and liberals alike. It is a marriage of militarism and utopian ideology--of unprecedented military might wed to a blind faith in the universality of American values. This mindset, the author warns, invites endless war and the ever-deepening militarization of U.S. policy. It promises not to perfect but to pervert American ideals and to accelerate the hollowing out of American democracy. As it alienates others, it will leave the United States increasingly isolated. It will end in bankruptcy, moral as well as economic, and in abject failure. With The New American Militarism, which has been updated with a new Afterword, Bacevich examines the origins and implications of this misguided enterprise. He shows how American militarism emerged as a reaction to the Vietnam War. Various groups in American society--soldiers, politicians on the make, intellectuals, strategists, Christian evangelicals, even purveyors of pop culture--came to see the revival of military power and the celebration of military values as the antidote to all the ills besetting the country as a consequence of Vietnam and the 1960s. The upshot, acutely evident in the aftermath of 9/11, has been a revival of vast ambitions and certainty, this time married to a pronounced affinity for the sword. Bacevich urges us to restore a sense of realism and a sense of proportion to U.S. policy. He proposes, in short, to bring American purposes and American methods--especially with regard to the role of the military--back into harmony with the nation's founding ideals. Similar books: America's War for the Greater Middle East by Andrew J. Bacevich The Limits of Power by Andrew J. Bacevich American Empire by Andrew J. Bacevich The American Way of War by Eugene Jarecki Washington Rules by Andrew J. Bacevich Generation Kill by Evan Wright The Great War for Civilisation by Robert Fisk Drift by Rachel Maddow Ghost Wars by Steve Coll Fiasco by Thomas E. Ricks Imperial Life in the Emerald City by Rajiv Chandrasekaran The March of Folly by Barbara W. Tuchman Dereliction of Duty by H. R. McMaster Kill Anything That Moves by Nick Turse Overthrow by Stephen Kinzer The Fall of the Ottomans by Eugene Rogan The Good Soldiers by David Finkel The Black Banners by Ali H. Soufan Vietnam by Max Hastings The Assassins' Gate by George Packer