How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything: Tales from the Pentagon

Description

The first serious book to examine what happens when the ancient boundary
between war and peace is erased. Once, war was a temporary state of affairs—a
violent but brief interlude between times of peace. Today, America’s wars are
everywhere and forever: our enemies change constantly and rarely wear
uniforms, and virtually anything can become a weapon. As war expands, so does
the role of the US military. Today, military personnel don’t just “kill people
and break stuff.” Instead, they analyze computer code, train Afghan judges,
build Ebola isolation wards, eavesdrop on electronic communications, develop
soap operas, and patrol for pirates. You name it, the military does it. Rosa
Brooks traces this seismic shift in how America wages war from an
unconventional perspective—that of a former top Pentagon official who is the
daughter of two anti-war protesters and a human rights activist married to an
Army Green Beret. Her experiences lead her to an urgent warning: When the
boundaries around war disappear, we risk destroying America’s founding values
and the laws and institutions we’ve built—and undermining the international
rules and organizations that keep our world from sliding towards chaos. If
Russia and China have recently grown bolder in their foreign adventures, it’s
no accident; US precedents have paved the way for the increasingly
unconstrained use of military power by states around the globe. Meanwhile, we
continue to pile new tasks onto the military, making it increasingly ill-
prepared for the threats America will face in the years to come. By turns a
memoir, a work of journalism, a scholarly exploration into history,
anthropology and law, and a rallying cry, How Everything Became War and the
Military Became Everything transforms the familiar into the alien, showing us
that the culture we inhabit is reshaping us in ways we may suspect, but don’t
really understand. It’s the kind of book that will leave you moved,
astonished, and profoundly disturbed, for the world around us is quietly
changing beyond recognition—and time is running out to make things right. Read
more

Features:

Product Details:

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster; First Edition (August 9, 2016)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 448 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 3
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 63
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.51 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.66 x 5.91 x 0.98 inches
• Best Sellers Rank: #1,044,529 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #1,064 in National & International Security (Books) #1,221 in Political Intelligence #1,756 in Political Commentary & Opinion
• #1,064 in National & International Security (Books)