Drift by Rachel Maddow

Drift

by Rachel Maddow

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History & Foreign Affairs

Wars the public barely feels: that's the result, in Maddow's account, of war-making power drifting since Vietnam from Congress to the presidency, through decisions by both parties rather than any conspiracy. Congress did authorize Afghanistan and Iraq, as reviewer Scott Shane noted, so how far does her case reach?

Core ideas
  • Cut off from civilian life: Lyndon Johnson's choice not to call up the National Guard and Reserves for Vietnam separated war from everyday life.
  • Outsourced and secret: She faults the shift of military work to private contractors and a CIA grown into a paramilitary force running drone strikes, including in Pakistan.
  • Her fixes: Pay for wars openly, restore the Guard's domestic role, end secret military operations, rely less on contractors and shrink nuclear infrastructure.
Published2012
Pages288
ISBN9780307970381
ReadFeb 2023

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