The New American Militarism

As I was thinking of whether I should purchase a copy of the paperback edition of The New American Militarism so I could ask Dr. Bacevich to sign it, I recalled the thesis of the book and it reminded me of the article published online last week by Lt. Col. William Astore. (While doing a search of blog posts, I found this earlier piece by Astore) Astore seems to have similar concerns as Bacevich, though he is basing his claim on a rather minor piece of evidence, while Bacevich is looking at late American 20th century history.

I'll admit that I more disposed to favor the work of Professor Bacevich, since his is a conservative critique of American foreign policy and I figure his understanding of American republicanism is closer to what traditional conservatives believe than Astore's. I could be wrong, though. If I am right about Lt. Col. Astore's politics and if Professor Bacevich has a similar erroneous understanding of the nature of the Federal Union, then I would not hesitate to criticize what he has written accordingly. Indeed, it may be that Professor Bacevich does not look far enough into the National Government's past actions and policies (the War to Prevent Southern Independence)?




Links:
The New American Militarism: Conversation with Andrew Bacevich
Conversation with Andrew J. Bacevich, cover page
Tomdispatch
Mother Jones
Alternative Radio


Is the new militarism just a strengthening and development of earlier trends (especially the growth of the Military Industrial Complex)? I should read the book from cover to end. Time to check the local library.


MilitaryIndustrialComplex.com