Pentagon

Not Your Grandfather's Military-Industrial Complex

by Ben Freeman and William D. Hartung

Eisenhower warned of the power of the military and industry to shape America's priorities and warp society in their own interests. He had no idea of how bad it could get. 

Politicization of the US Military over the Last 4 Decades

by Kori Schake

"If America wants to retain a military that recruits from all parts of the citizenry and brings them together into an effective fighting force, it should both correct that public perception and better insulate the military from being a pawn in partisan political disputes."

Going Nuclear on Military Spending

by William Astore

"Why, despite decades of disastrous wars, do Pentagon budgets continue to grow, year after year, like ever-expanding nuclear mushroom clouds?"

The Pentagon as Penta-God

by William Astore

"Paraphrasing Joe Biden, show me your budget and I’ll tell you what you worship. In that context, there can’t be the slightest doubt: America worships its Pentagod and the weapons and wars that feed it."

Is Reining In the Pentagon Even Possible?

by Mandy Smithberger and William Hartung

The CBO's recent study proposes three paths to cutting $1 trillion from the defense budget. Even these proposals still leave in place massive Pentagon budgets and affirm the nation's use of military force as the first option for resolving international security issues. 

Why Is Pentagon Spending Rising When "We Can't Afford" Everything Else?

by Lawrence Wittner

The self-interest of politicians and defense contractors, not popular demand or military necessity, is driving a new US military buildup that continues unabated even as other vital national priorities go begging. 

Never Having to Say You're Sorry

by Karen J. Greenberg

Numerous players with large and small roles in creating the expansive War on Terror have issued mea culpas; the major architects and the interests who profit from war have not. 

Slaughter Central: The United States as a Mass-Killing Machine

by Tom Engelhardt

The American armanents industry is profiting from the sales of weapons of potential planetary destruction, mass shootings, and all manner of violence in between. We should understand the gun industry as a global public-private partnership of death.

Back to the Future at the Pentagon

by William Astore

The Pentagon's shift away from planning for asymmetrical warfare toward "near-peer" conventional conflict is reviving the defense contracting gravy train for big-ticket weapons systems, with a revival of Cold War nuclear danger as a side effect. 

Rewarding Failure

by William Astore

One place a little cancel culture could come in handy is in the halls of the Pentagon, where costly and pointless weapons programs prove impossible to kill off. 

History Exposes the Problem with Biden’s Defense Secretary Nominee

by Grant Golub

World War II demonstrated the need for strong civilian control over a military divided between multiple armed service branches, both to guide strategy and to ensure the ultimate authority of the President over the military. The nomination of a recently-retired Army general for Secretary of Defense departs from that tradition. 

Stop the Music

by Richard H. Kohn

President-Elect Biden has allowed too much speculation about his choices for Secretary of Defense and unwisely floated the name of a retired Army general for the job. He needs to make a quick commitment to a nominee whose national defense experience comes from the civil, not the military, arena.

Let Them Eat Weapons: Trump’s Bizarre Arms Race

by Lawrence Wittner

The Trump administration's stated intention to "spend the adversary into oblivion" through arms buildup is likely to bring ruin to the American public before it harms Russia or China. 

Why Haven't the Afghanistan Papers Gotten More Attention?

by David V. Gioe

The Afghanistan Papers and the Perils of Historical Analogy

Lessons From Battling the Pentagon for Four Decades

by William D. Hartung

The Stubborn Persistence of the Military-Industrial State 

Our Man From Boeing

by Mandy Smithberger and William D. Hartung

Has the Arms Industry Captured Trump’s Pentagon?

William Astore says the Pentagon may not be able to win foreign wars but it's won one here at home

by William Astore

Nowadays everybody lionizes the military.  This is problematic, says Astore. 

The Air Force’s Strange Love for the New B-21 Bomber

by William J. Astore

The Pentagon wants 200 of the bombers at more than half a billion dollars each (not counting cost overruns).

Rumsfeld Snowflakes Come in from the Cold

A Freedom of Information request is now resulting in the release of the memos produced by the former Secretary of Defense. 

The Pentagon Has Its Commemoration of the Vietnam War. So Do Former Anti-Vietnam War Activists.

by Jeremy Kuzmarov and Roger Peace

In October they’re holding a conference in DC.