Includes bibliographical references (pages 127-158) and index.
Contents:
Measuring violence -- Legacies of World War II -- Cold War nuclear terror -- Cold War wars -- Proxy war and surrogate terror -- New and old world orders: the 1990s -- September 11 and "a new kind of war" -- Arcs of instability -- The American century at seventy-five.
Summary:
" The Violent "American Century" addresses the U.S.-led transformations in war conduct and strategizing that followed 1945. World War II marked the apogee of industrialized "total war." Great powers savaged one another. Hostilities engulfed the globe. Mobilization extended to virtually every sector of every nation. Air war, including the terror bombing of civilians, emerged as a central strategy of the victorious Anglo-American powers. The devastation was catastrophic almost everywhere, with the notable exception of the United States, which exited the strife unscathed and unmatched in power and influence. The death toll of fighting forces plus civilians worldwide was staggering. The Violent "American Century" addresses the U.S.-led transformations in war conduct and strategizing that followed 1945́beginning with brutal localized hostilities, proxy wars, and the nuclear terror of the Cold War, and ending with the asymmetrical conflicts of the present day. The military playbook now meshes brute force with a focus on non-state terrorism, counterinsurgency, clandestine operations, a vast web of overseas American military bases, and́most touted of alĺa revolutionary new era of computerized "precision" warfare. By contrast to World War II, postwar death and destruction has been comparatively small. By any other measure, it has been appallinǵand shows no sign of abating. The winner of numerous national prizes for his historical writings, including the Pulitzer and the National Book Award, Dower draws heavily on hard data and internal U.S. planning and pronouncements in this concise analysis of war and terror in our time. In doing so, he places U.S. policy and practice firmly within the broader context of global mayhem, havoc, and slaughter since World War IÍalways with bottom-line attentiveness to the human costs of this legacy of unceasing violence."--Publisher's description.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.