Author Description

An account of how sixty years of American militarism created the Cold War, fanned decades of unnecessary conflict, helped to fuel Islamist terror, and threatens to bankrupt the country. For most of the twentieth century, the sword has led before the olive branch in American foreign policy. Here, author Stephen Glain shows how America truly operates as a superpower, and explores the constant tension between the diplomats at State and the warriors at Defense. The price of America's national security state is well over $1 trillion--more than 20 percent of the federal budget. By comparison, China, Russia, Cuba, Iran, and North Korea, the five countries Pentagon planners routinely cite as threats, have a cumulative security budget of just over $200 billion. Quietly, gradually, the Pentagon has all but eclipsed the State Department at the center of U.S. foreign policy, and the republic has been lost to an empire.--From publisher description.