Lecture 18: The American Military
Transcript of Lecture 18: The American Military
From Cold War to War on
TerrorThe United States and Its Military
Ending the Cold War
What Ended the Cold War?
• Mikhail Gorbachev, 1985• Glastnost and
Perestroika• Poland, 1989• USSR dissolved, 1991
Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, 1979
• The Soviet Union’s “Vietnam”
Chernobyl Disaster, 1986
What Next?
The US as World Police
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_United_States_military_operations
Bacevich, “The New American Militarism”
• Scope and cost• Willingness to use force• New aesthetic of war• All-volunteer army
ReadingAmerican Empire?
Globalization
Free Trade• NAFTA, 1992
Outsourcing• Outsourcing is the consequence of free trade• The US economy is increasingly centered on
services• Union membership has declined dramatically• The decline of Detroit,
http://www.weather.com/travel/modern-ruins-abandoned-detroit-photos-20130715
• New technologies and Silicon Valley
The Globalization of American Culture
The War on Terror
September 11, 2001
New Technology
American Empire?• The Soldier (military)• The Missionary (cultural)• The Merchant (economic)