Masters of War: Militarism and Blowback in the Era of American Empire

Description

The White House claims our hostility toward the newly christened "Axis of Evil" countries is a bold step for democracy, but to many it may also resemble the awkward, violent posturing of a crumbling empire. Few Americans today would call the US an empire, but Masters of War confronts the uncomfortable reality that our legacy of military power runs long and deep. In this book, many of the anti-war movement's most vocal and intelligent critics - including Noam Chomsky, Norman Solomon, Chalmers Johnson, Michael Parenti and more - expose the now unparalleled military domination America has over the world's landmasses, sea lanes and air spaces, with great aspirations toward colonization of outer space. Consuming nearly USD350 billion annually - or roughly 22 times the combined total of the seven most purportedly menacing rogue states - the sprawling Pentagon imperium deploys more than 350 major bases around the world, crucial to monitoring and protecting world order. Even as the US continues to celebrate the virtues of international order, human rights and democracy, its ruling elites have become increasingly reckless and violent, brazenly violating many of the global norms and laws they pretend to uphold. American dominion has begun breeding widespread dysfunction, resistance, and opposition like to make the twenty-first century a time of sustained, generally unanticipated "blowback". Masters of War reminds us that worldwide economic and military dominance has its price.

Carl Boggs is Professor of Social Sciences at National University in Los Angeles. He is the author of numerous publications including The End of Politics: Corporate Power and the Decline of the Public Sphere.

""Masters of War is a wide-ranging, coherent, and critical account of the 'war on terrorism' and post-9/11 foreign policy. It gives you the whole picture -- you get the war on Afghanistan, the weaponization of space, the quest for oil dominance, and the patriarchal militarization of culture, all placed in a larger imperial context. If you want to go beyond the headlines and the sound-bites, buy this book.."-Rahul Mahajan, author of "Full Spectrum Dominance: U.S. Power in Iraq and Beyond and "The New Crusade: America's War on Terrorism "This is an excellent collection of articles on the crucial question of U.S. militarism, its impact abroad and within the US itself, and its relationship to imperialism. Over the last several years it has become clear that the threat to peace and social justice lies not only in corporate globalization, but in the vastly disproportionate military and economic power of the U.S., and the willingness of a political elite to use that power ruthlessly. Despite the urgency of this question, little has been written on it. This collection begins to fill this gap. These articles address many facets of U.S. expansionism and militarism, and show how both undermine democracy here and abroad.."-Barbara Epstein, History of Consciousness Department, UC-Santa Cruz and co-editor of "Striking Terror: America's New War "The main value of this book lies in its articulating a perspective on post September 11th America that is an important counter-weight to the usual views we get from the mainstream publications and pundits in this country."-"Journal of Psychohistory