Militarism at Chester's

Chester:

I recently finished reading The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced By War by Andrew Bacevich, an excellent treatment of the subject of militarism, civil-military relations, and a whole host of related issues. Dr. Bacevich is a Viet Nam veteran and was a career Army officer before entering academia. He currently serves as the Director of the Center for International Relations, and Professor of International Relations at Boston University.

Dr. Bacevich is a critic of current trends in militarism and of the nature of the war. That being said, his work should not be lumped together with much less erudite or more partisan works. I found the book to offer some very interesting viewpoints on the sources of American militarism and its possible cures. I decided to speak to Dr. Bacevich to get some more details. The following is our exchange.

The following is here. I disagree with virtually every answer he gives in the interview - the exception being his final reply, though I expect we'd disagree on the significance of the point. Overall I think his identification of problems falls flat, thus I really can't get on board with any solutions he might propose. I'm sure there are many with whom his writing will resonate but it will be unfortunate indeed if this is the odd shape of any future debate held at any level that matters - say beyond academic, where his credentials will no doubt lure readers who are actually guilty of much of what he accuses "Americans" of into thinking they're getting inside information. They are, of course, but it's from inside Boston - not West Point.

All of which in no way reflects poorly on Chester, who's efforts I applaud. Go read the whole thing.