The Politics of Defense in the United St

The Politics of Defense is concerned with the construction and implementation of American defense policy—including strategies, budgets, modernization and acquisition programs, personnel issues, and decisions on the use of force.  But it focuses on the politics, and process, of making policy more than on overarching theories or abstract ideas.  Who are the key players, inside the Beltway and beyond?  How do members of the Congress and Executive Branch wrestle with each other—and within their own organizations—as they collectively construct U.S. defense policy?  Which parts of the process are badly flawed and which work well?  How healthy is the relationship of the armed forces to American society?  How do Republicans and Democrats, civilians and uniformed personnel, soldiers and sailors (and airmen/women, Marines, and space guardians), cooperate and compete?  The readings of the course tend to focus on issues and debates of the past several decades.  But in the interest of preparing students for the here-and-now of modern U.S. defense policymaking, the midterm and final take-home exams will consider questions of immediate salience in today’s debate.  Is either major U.S. political party becoming isolationist?  Is America truly preparing for possible great-power war against China, and how likely do different parts of the policymaking process as well as the broader polity consider such a war to be?  Do we waste huge sums on the military?  Does Congress add too many earmarks or pork-barrel projects to that budget?  While the course emphasizes the United States system, its scope necessarily considers other countries and regions as well, if for no other reason than it is in regard to today’s international environment that U.S. defense policy is made.