The New American Militarism: How Americans are Seduced by War

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The New American Militarism: How Americans are Seduced by War

4.03 of 5 stars 4.03 · rating details · 275 ratings · 36 reviews

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 militar...more

Paperback, 278 pages

Published September 1st 2006 by Oxford University Press (first published 2005)

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Jul 03, 2012 James rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: culture-and-politics, death-dying-killing-bereavement, history, military, philosophy, psychology

Excellent. As a sequel to his previous work American Empire, written in light of the Iraq invasion and its disastrous aftermath, this is a passionate indictment of a dangerous trend in American culture, society, and government. Bacevich only touches lightly on the analogy between the U.S. and Rome, to which others have addressed whole books. However, when he does he makes the critical point that the transformation from a citizen-soldier military in which all classes of society served to the All-...more Excellent. As a sequel to his previous work American Empire, written in light of the Iraq invasion and its disastrous aftermath, this is a passionate indictment of a dangerous trend in American culture, society, and government. Bacevich only touches lightly on the analogy between the U.S. and Rome, to which others have addressed whole books. However, when he does he makes the critical point that the transformation from a citizen-soldier military in which all classes of society served to the All-Volunteer Force which has existed since the end of the Vietnam war strongly resembles the change in the Roman army that accompanied Rome's devolution from republic to empire.

My only real beef with this book: as a former career Army officer, Bacevich at times has a parochial view and slights or completely overlooks the other branches of the U.S. armed forces. An example is when he states that West Point is to the American military as the Vatican is to the Roman Catholic Church; that view will no doubt come as a surprise to the Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard, which have their own parallel academies at Annapolis, MD, Colorado Springs, CO, and New London, CT respectively; and I certainly don't recall West Point getting much attention - let alone reverence - in the Marine Corps during my twenty years in that branch, which seems to get along nicely without a four-year academy of its own (although a number of Annapolis grads choose the Marines rather than the Navy, and the Marine Corps University at Quantico provides both entry-level officer training and grad-school-level courses.)

Regardless, the author does a solid job of tracing the development and cultivation of a strong militaristic streak in our country by the officer corps, the evangelical religious movement, and the leaders of the political right after Vietnam, each for their own reasons. He goes on to analyze the results in terms of our foreign policy and growing inclination to treat military intervention as our first response to problems abroad rather than as the last resort to which our leaders give lip service, and the resulting alienation of both ideological enemies and allies as well as the growing isolation of the military from mainstream U.S. society. In the best tradition of military initiative, he follows his rigorous presentation of a problem he believes threatens some of our most important values and traditions with a list of proposed solutions and his rationale for each.

A lot of what Andrew Bacevich wrote in this book several years ago has only become clearer and more true in the intervening time. I'd recommend this for any reader concerned with civil liberties within America, our relationship with the rest of the world, and the likely longer-term consequences (political, civil, and economic) of staying on our present course.(less)

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Oct 28, 2010 David rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: history, random-non-fiction, library-book

This book is a good study of how America has come to disproportionately rely on military prowess throughout the globe for our safety and comfort. I previously read Bacevich's The Limits of Power (2008) which has a broader focus. This book, written in 2005, focuses exclusively on the military. Where others blame George W. Bush for the direction the American military took after 9/11, Bacevich shows that America was already on this path decades prior to Bush. Rather than starting something new, Bus...more This book is a good study of how America has come to disproportionately rely on military prowess throughout the globe for our safety and comfort. I previously read Bacevich's The Limits of Power (2008) which has a broader focus. This book, written in 2005, focuses exclusively on the military. Where others blame George W. Bush for the direction the American military took after 9/11, Bacevich shows that America was already on this path decades prior to Bush. Rather than starting something new, Bush simply took the next step. Bacevich looks at this from many sides with chapters on the rise of neo-conservatives and the influence of evangelical Christians for example.

If you are tired of people exclusively blaming one political party or the other for whatever problems there are in the world, Bacevich is an author you would like because he demonstrates that many of our deepest problems have been caused by both Republicans and Democrats. He closes with a chapter filled with recommendations on how to move forward.

Bacevich writes, "Several decades after Vietnam, in the aftermath of a century filled to overflowing with evidence pointing to the limited utility of armed force and the dangers inherent in relying exclusively on military power, the American people have persuaded themselves that their best prospect for safety and salvation lies with the sword. Told that despite all of their past martial exertions, treasure expended, and lives sacrificed, the world they inhabit is today more dangerous than ever and that they must redouble those exertions, they dutifully assent. Much as dumping raw sewage into American lakes and streams was once deemed unremarkable, so today 'global power projection' - a phrase whose sharp edges we have worn down through casual use, but which implies military activism without apparent limit - has become standard practice, a normal condition, one to which no plausible alternatives seem to exist" (208).

He suggests we heed the intentions of the Founders who appreciated the need for military power while respecting its dangers, never intending the US to employ military power to remake the world in its image or police the entire globe. He also implores us to remember the separation of powers, realizing the Congress has failed to fulfill its responsibility in deciding when the US goes to war. Other suggestions are to view force as a last resort and thus to renounce preventive war, to enhance US self-sufficiency by taking steps to limit US dependence on foreign resources, to organize the military explicitly for defense by bringing troops home in places they are not needed (such as places that are more than capable of defending themselves) and to reduce defense spending in light of the fact that even a reduction in the tens of billions would still put us far ahead of the combined spending of many countries behind us. He offers other suggestions too, all very practical.

Overall, Bacevich writes well and cogently and provides a voice of reason and sanity. (less)

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Jan 03, 2010 Corey Rowe rated it 4 of 5 stars

this dude manages to blame everybody from carter to reagan, evangelists to flower children, neocons and bleeding libs-and somehow stays true to his claims that he is a conservative. but best of all, after telling us why we suck (and proving very well that we do) he offers solutions that can't be labeled as unrealistic/idealistic. he's ex-military. ppl say he's jaded because his son was killed in iraq, check your dates and grow some sympathy, his son died 2 years after publication. he's just smar...more

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Dec 14, 2009 Steven Peterson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Andrew Bacevich, a military veteran and self-described conservative, has written a hard-hitting, though-provoking work. His very first paragraph lays out what is at stake in this book (p. ix): "This is a book about the new American militarism--the misleading and dangerous conceptions of war, soldiers, and military institutions that have come to pervade the American consciousness and that have perverted present-day U. S. national security policy." He goes on, in the introductory comments, to note...more Andrew Bacevich, a military veteran and self-described conservative, has written a hard-hitting, though-provoking work. His very first paragraph lays out what is at stake in this book (p. ix): "This is a book about the new American militarism--the misleading and dangerous conceptions of war, soldiers, and military institutions that have come to pervade the American consciousness and that have perverted present-day U. S. national security policy." He goes on, in the introductory comments, to note that contemporary leaders often overreach, being caught in their own hubris. He notes (p. xii): "What is most striking about the most powerful man in the world [the President of the United States:] is not the power that he wields. It is how constrained he and his lieutenants are by forces that lie beyond their grasp and perhaps their understanding."

He argues that Vietnam's legacy has included the empowering of neoconservatives, the religious right, and others in coming to believe that the United States ought to project military might to advance its interests. He observes how Ronald Regan's presidency exemplified this bent. This has led to a naïve view as to what military power can do. In his view, this faith has led the United States to move in a direction contrary to some of the most important figures in American history, such as George Washington.

He concludes by quoting President Washington, as he left public life. Washington is quoted as saying that Americans ought to be leery of (p. 224): ". . .those overgrown military establishments which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty." Nothing need be added to Washington's words to highlight what Bacevich believes is "at stake."

His suggestions as to how the United States might address this may not be convincing to readers, but he does engage those readers in an important dialogue. For that alone, this book is to be accorded much appreciation.
(less)

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Mar 15, 2013 Wanda rated it 2 of 5 stars

I really wanted to like this book, because I am a staunch non-interventionist and wish we could have an amendment to our constitution similar to Article 9 of the Japanese constitution or Article 11 of the Italian constitution. I absolutely despise people like Michael Ledeen, who is quoted as having said around the time of the Iraq invasion, "Every ten years or so, the United States needs to pick up some small crappy little country and throw it against the wall, just to show the world we mean bus...more

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Jun 13, 2010 Matt Riddle rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Excerpts:

Although politicians make a pretense of revering that document [the U.S. Constitution:], when it comes to military policy they have long fallen into the habit of treating it like a dead letter. This is unfortunate. Drafted by men who appreciated the need for military power while also maintaining a healthy respect for the dangers it posed, the Constitution in our own day remains an essential point of reference.

Nothing in that compact, as originally ratified or as subsequently amended, co...more Excerpts:

Although politicians make a pretense of revering that document [the U.S. Constitution:], when it comes to military policy they have long fallen into the habit of treating it like a dead letter. This is unfortunate. Drafted by men who appreciated the need for military power while also maintaining a healthy respect for the dangers it posed, the Constitution in our own day remains an essential point of reference.

Nothing in that compact, as originally ratified or as subsequently amended, commits or even encourages the United States to employ military power to save the rest of humankind or remake the world in its own image nor even hints at any such purpose or obligation.

...

"Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground?" George Washington's question, posed in 1796, and also his answer commend themselves to our consideration today. Washington did not recommend that the United States turn its back on he world. Rather he urged that Americans establish that relationship on terms conducive to the well-being of the republic, steering clear of the ambitions, rivalries, interest, humors, and caprices of other nations. Above all, he counseled the United States to maintain "the command of its own fortunes." Critics will dismiss this as camouflaged isolationism. It is not: it is a call for restoring American freedom of action.

...

In a valedictory marking his withdrawal from public life, George Washington pointedly advised his fellow citizens to be wary of "those overgrown military establishments which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty."

Himself a soldier of surpassing greatness, Washington was hardly a naïf in matters related to war and peace. He did not see military power as inherently evil. He considered the maintenance of a respectable army to be essential to a nation's well-being. Those citizens who rallied to their country's defense in its time of need he held in highest esteem.

But of this Washington was certain: to cultivate military power for its own sake and to indulge in the ambitions to which large armies gave rise was alien to the entire conception of the New World. To seek safety in an overgrown military establishment was to replicate the errors of the Old World, home to kings and sepulchres and empires but not to freedom and republican virtue.(less)

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Jul 10, 2007 Ryan rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone concerned with the future of our country.

Bacevich takes the specter of American militarism and deals with it with an even hand. He definitely points out the dangers very clearly, but gives logical reasoning behind the history of the problem. The rationality and evenhandedness is something that i've seen all too rarely on such a touchy subject.

Highly recommended.

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May 28, 2012 Krissy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Essentially Bacevich focused on four things: 1. The US not resizing its armed forces after the end of Vietnam, which it had done in all previous wars. 2. How the religious right was formed [when Carter didn't move to action in what they felt they wanted done, they flipped over from supporting liberals on the left to being the religious right] & the influence they have/exert. 3. That there are really four world wars that have occurred and not just the two that history mentions. 4. And finally...more

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Dec 06, 2012 Kristen Lemaster rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book proves just how interwoven war and American society are through numerous examples, quotes, and historical metaphors. At times he can be redundant, mostly because he'll write something one way but later find a more clever way of saying it and write it in that way, too, but nonetheless he really drives his points home. No one administration is blamed; instead we all get an equal share in the guilt. Yet he seems more optimistic and pragmatic than Chalmers Johnson, given that in the last s...more

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Jan 09, 2008 Jamie Deal rated it 3 of 5 stars

Well written, but wrong.

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Jan 29, 2012 John rated it 5 of 5 stars

During the War in Iraq when things were reported to be going from bad to worse, I asked a prominent U.S. Senator why we had gone into Iraq. He replied you had to be in Washington during September 11th to understand why we were in Iraq. I remember the parade of generals and other members of the national security establishment that made the rounds of investment bank conferences from September 11th to the invasion of Iraq, explaining to the luncheon audiences that we must go to Iraq, then possibly...more During the War in Iraq when things were reported to be going from bad to worse, I asked a prominent U.S. Senator why we had gone into Iraq. He replied you had to be in Washington during September 11th to understand why we were in Iraq. I remember the parade of generals and other members of the national security establishment that made the rounds of investment bank conferences from September 11th to the invasion of Iraq, explaining to the luncheon audiences that we must go to Iraq, then possibly Korea. With oil prices at $20 per barrel and the 'peace dividend' nigh, the powers that be in Washington seemed as confident as the Wall Street groups they were speaking to - each group would unleash short-term thinking based on their assumed competencies to create long-term problems that today seem impossible to turn back once unleashed. Even Obama seems to be co-opted by the very Washington establishment thinking about U.S. militarism that he had been elected to counter.

Bacevich wrote this book two years after President Bush's precipitous "Mission Accomplished" speech that so typifies the divide between the civilians "entralled with military power" and the reality that relying on military power often creates significantly more complex long-term consequences that its easy answers originally promise.

The proper use of the military and the relationship between the national security elite are very difficult questions that are often caught up in debates about patriotism and freedom. Baccevich asks all of the difficult questions and seeks to find answers in a complex array of history and the changing relationship between the military and civilian elite. He raises may questions and enters the civilian/military debate. Something has happend that makes today's debate different then the world of Huntington's "Citizen Soldier." The convergence of the war on terror financing what had been community police - has implications for Bacevich's citizen soldier discussion that even he did not anticipate. (less)

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Jun 13, 2011 May added it

Shelves: political-science

Bacevich's work is a compelling argument American Militarism. It does a good job of showing how the "Militarism" which is taken for granted as "the way it is" is actually an oddity given the history of this nation and it's founding forefathers.

Some notes:
1) Weinburger Doctrine - Specified tests as preconditions for putting American troops in harms way. He would have this test be put toward all military action post-cold war in the middle east
2) The thematic of War as ugly or as a last resort vs...more Bacevich's work is a compelling argument American Militarism. It does a good job of showing how the "Militarism" which is taken for granted as "the way it is" is actually an oddity given the history of this nation and it's founding forefathers.

Some notes:
1) Weinburger Doctrine - Specified tests as preconditions for putting American troops in harms way. He would have this test be put toward all military action post-cold war in the middle east
2) The thematic of War as ugly or as a last resort vs pre-emptive war. In chapter three he speaks about one of the latter's larger advocates Norman Podhoretz's 6 neoconservatives truths
- Evil is real
- For evil to prevail, those confronted by it must be flinching from duty. (Suggests that Hilter's legacy is a permanent standing army in the US).
- America must alone be the global leader.
- There is a relationship between stability at home and abroad (i.e. in this regard, he was reacting against the civil rights movement during his time).
- Felt a crisis existed post-Vietnam for which the US must take action (i.e. the loss showed a failure in leadership and the US needed to re-establish it's military might).
- The antidote to crisis is leadership. (i.e. Reagan, etc...)
3) In Chapter 3: California Dreaming, he discusses how popular press has changed since WW2 from being anti-war to pro-military making claims that the film industry played a major role through movies which romanticized war.
4) Discusses oil issues which have served to justify and frustrate the ability to not take action. Hints at the close relationship between oil, economy, and US prosperity. Suggests that Carter may have missed it by thinking that the US would be ok, with belt tightening.

My thoughts are:
1) How do we think about President Obama's recent activity in the middle east? Does it look like his policies will fall in line with the past?
2) While the author feels that no president since Reagan has been particularly good at reducing oil dependence, are there potentially seeds of change that have been planted?
(less)

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Nov 19, 2011 Larry Bassett rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: war, political

The book is short: 226 pages plus footnotes. But it is packed with ideas and information. It is not a book to read casually; it demands your full attention. Bacevich looks at how the U.S. has fallen into the habit of seeing the military as the solution to all world problems. A graduate of West Point and a Vietnam veteran, he is not anti-military but says things have gotten out of control.

Bacevich argues against the uber-superiority that seems to be the goal of the military. He decries military o...more

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Dec 30, 2008 Rachel Hillen rated it 5 of 5 stars

A well reasoned and superbly researched book detailing how America's view of war has changed since the end of World War I. It details how we went from viewing war a last resort, to a negotation tactic and finally as a tool for spreading American ideal across the globe. It will not be easy for proponents of the current war to brush aside Bacevitch as another liberal alarmist. He is a West Pointe graduate and Vietnam veteran who has contributed to both the National Review and the Weekly Standard....more

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Mar 19, 2009 Paul rated it 5 of 5 stars

The author is a retired United States military officer and a graduate of the U.S. Army military academy in West Point, New York. In addition to being a retired commissioned officer, Mr. Bacevich also holds a M.A. and Ph. D. from Princeton University and is currently a professor of International Relations and History at Boston University. Mr. Bacevich’s view and interpretation of militarism was very insightful due to his career as a commissioned military officer and his academic experience.

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Mar 19, 2009 Gabriel added it

Bacevich is making the case that the United States's global policing of the world and/or reshaping the world in the image of the United States (capitalistic econoimic system and democratic government)began during Woodrow Wilson's presiedency.

The author makes very salient points on how the American militry complex has arrived at it's current state. This book has made me revise my current opinion of Geoerge W. Bush's role in are current foreign policy predicament and war on terror. I will know lon...more

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Feb 11, 2012 John rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: social-science

This book is kind of dry but its conclusions are REALLY important. If you want the gist of it, read his concluding chapter. It nicely packages and summarizes the meat the spent the previous 220 pages developing. But his logic and thinking are impeccable, so the serious reader will want to read his entire argument. Highly recommended. Especially now that the nation is on the brink of economic collapse.

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Jan 12, 2011 Jack rated it 5 of 5 stars

Outstanding, as Col/Prof. Bacevich himself might have said while in the army. The title describes it. Bacevich was a career army officer, West Point graduate, Vietnam veteran, who went through an enormous epiphany (not too strong a word) and subsequent reorientation of his attitude towards the place of the military in American contemporary culture, politics, and place in the world.

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Apr 08, 2010 Don rated it 5 of 5 stars

He is a Vietnam vet, officer, teaches military affairs and is very conservative. And thoughtful and critical. He points to several groups that have converged to produce our current focus on the military. Occasionally he stretches too far, like a jaunt into popular movies. But he does not like the current national trend and urges a return to our constitutional roots.

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Nov 15, 2009 Lee added it

A good high-level overview of the interlocking forces that have led the U.S. to increasingly militarize itself (since World War II, and especially since Vietnam). Some of the analysis is not very surprising if you've been paying attention to the world of politics over the last decade, but it's all quite thorough, and thoroughly sourced.

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Mar 28, 2009 Nick rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history, international, politics

Prof. Bacevich offers coherent, systematic insights into why American citizens accept every larger defense expenditures as well as wars (by any other name) that are not in defense of the nation. He also offers ten suggestions about approaches to remedying our fascination with all things military. Essential reading, I believe.

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Jan 11, 2012 Andrew rated it 5 of 5 stars

What often appear as a sudden crisis almost always have roots that go a good distance into the past. I appreciate the author taking the long view on the problem of the militarization of American society, focusing mainly on the period from 1917 to the present.

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Dec 28, 2008 Steve rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

This was an interesting view of how America's attitude towards the military has changed over the last century and specifically since the low point of Vietnam and the resurgence since Desert Storm.

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Jul 20, 2010 Beekay rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book lays out clearly the impact of the ideology of "American Military Exceptionalism" and the tenets that are followed to continue an imperialist quest for power.

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Jun 17, 2009 Eric rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: military, current-events

When the military is the strongest factor the DIME equation, we will naturally turn to it. Time for the other three elements of national power to step up.

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Jan 26, 2011 Terri rated it 4 of 5 stars

Difficult to read but important to understand how much America is changing - and not for the good.

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Dec 06, 2012 Caloway Gavin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Every true patriot should read this with open mind and challenge their current thinking.

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Sep 19, 2009 Luther Wilson rated it 5 of 5 stars

A thorough account of our society's relationship to the military. Mr. Bacevich served in Vietnam, stayed afterwards in the officer corps, then earned his PhD in History from Princeton. (Which is to say he knows what he's talking about). He's also a damn good writer, in my opinion.

One of the jacket reviews says that "every thoughtful American should read this book". I guess that would be good -- even if nothing changed, at least we would have a better idea of what the hell is going on.

Anyway fo...more

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Jan 10, 2009 Matt rated it 5 of 5 stars

Kind of devastating, really.

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Aug 27, 2012 Sam Snideman rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really liked the book. It's a pretty good history, in that it's well-researched and well-sourced. It also makes a pretty compelling argument as to how America is developing into more of a militarized society. The last chapter contains some pretty standard realist and libertarian foreign/security policy arguments as to how the US can reverse this militarism and re-orient foreign policy to be more in-line with America's founding principles. I'd highly recommend it to anyone.

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About Andrew J. Bacevich

Andrew J. Bacevich, a professor of history and international relations at Boston University, retired from the U.S. Army with the rank of colonel. He is the author of Washington Rules: America's Path to Permanent War and The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism and The New American Militarism. His writing has appeared in Foreign Affairs, The Atlantic Monthly, The Nation, The New York...more

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Books by Andrew J. Bacevich

The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism

Washington Rules: America's Path to Permanent War

American Empire: The Realities and Consequences of U.S. Diplomacy

The Short American Century: A Postmortem

The Imperial Tense: Prospects and Problems of American Empire

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