National Insecurity

Upon leaving the White House in 1961, President Eisenhower famously warned Americans about the dangers of a "military industrial complex," and was clearly worried about the destabilizing effects of a national economy based on open-ended military spending. Today, as the global economic crisis and a growing national debt beg for a change of course, the U.S. government is spending more on the military than ever before. Melvin Goodman, a 24-year veteran of the CIA, takes on the escalating militarization of U.S. national security policy, arguing that increased military spending is making the nation poorer and less secure, while undermining our political standing abroad. Drawing from his first-hand experience with war planners and intelligence strategists, Goodman offers an insider's critique and outlines a much-needed vision for how to recalibrate our military policy, practices, and spending. National Insecurity provides a clear, compelling and sobering look under the hood of the secretive U.S. intelligence-military machine.--