The US Military: A Basic Introduction

This book aims to provide a basic guide to the US military and will raise questions for further discussion by students.

The US spends as much on its military as all other nations the world combined; even in a severe recession, the military budget has been sacrosanct. The US military can reach into the most remote areas of the globe and kill its enemies from long distances with impunity. It is not a citizen military, but a military of senior professionals who command young volunteers many of them attracted by rewards unavailable to them in civilian life, such as an education. Both are supported by large numbers of contractors working for profit.

While political scientists study the legislature, the presidency, the courts, public opinion, voting, campaigns, state and local government, only rarely do they refer to government’s defining institutions, those that exercise legitimate force, i.e., the police and more especially, the military. Prof. Michael Walzer asserts that in a democracy citizens are responsible for the kind of military they have and how and where it is used. Nevertheless, few political science students have much knowledge on the military.

This book will be of much interest to students of the US military, US politics, US defense, and military studies in general.

This book provides a basic guide to the US military and will raise questions for further discussion by students and other curious readers.

The US Military provides an accessible starting-point for those with a limited knowledge of this institution. Covering a wide range of subject matter, and ending with an extensive list of suggested resources to aid individual study and research, the text is divided into the following chapters:

This book will be of great interest to students of the US military, US politics, defense studies, and war and conflict studies, and will also be of relevance to journalists, NGO staff and diplomats.

Judith Hicks Stiehm is Professor of Political Science at Florida International University. She is author of several books on the military and recently served as Distinguished Visiting Professor at the U.S. Air Force Academy.