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The American culture of war : the history of U.S. military force from World War II to Operation Enduring Freedom / Adrian R. Lewis.

LIBRA UA23 .L522 2012
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Format:
Book
Author/Creator:
Lewis, Adrian R.
Language:
English
Subjects (All):
National security.
Public opinion.
Armed Forces.
Weapons systems.
Evaluation.
Strategic culture.
United States--Military policy.
United States.
Military policy.
Strategic culture--United States.
United States--History, Military--20th century.
History, Military.
United States--History, Military--21st century.
United States--Armed Forces--Weapons systems--Evaluation.
National security--United States--Public opinion.
Public opinion--United States.
Physical Description:
xx, 566 pages : illustrations, maps ; 26 cm
Other Title:
History of U.S. military force from World War II to Operation Enduring Freedom
Place of Publication:
New York : Routledge, 2012.
Summary:
The American Culture of War presents a sweeping critical examination of every major American war since 1941: the Second World War, Korea, Vietnam, and the First and Second Persian Gulf Wars, including the current war in Afghanistan. As he carefully considers the cultural forces that surrounded each military engagement, Adrian Lewis offers an original and provocative look at the motives people and governments used to wage war, the discord among military personnel, the flawed political policies that guided military strategy, and the civilian perceptions that characterized each conflict. With each chapter similarly structured to allow the reader to draw parallels between the wars, Lewis deftly traces the evolution of US military strategy since the Second World War. Timely, incisive, and comprehensive, and completely updated for the second edition, including five new chapters, The American Culture of War is a unique and invaluable survey of over sixty years of American military history. For additional information and classroom resources please visit The American Culture of War companion website at www.routledge.com/textbooks/9780415979757.
Contents:
Part I Tradition and the Envisioned Future Collide 7
1 Culture, Genes, and War 9
Culture 10
Axioms of Cultural Theory 14
Genes and Culture 18
War and Human Nature 22
2 Traditional American Thinking About the Conduct of War 24
Traditional Practices No Longer Worked 24
The Culture of Equality of Sacrifice 27
The Culture of Inequality of Outcome 31
The Culture of Wealth and Consumption 32
The Culture of Science and Technology 35
Tenets of American Culture 37
3 The Legacy of World War II: Man versus Machine 40
WWII Air War Doctrine vs. WWII Ground War Doctrine 41
The Army's Practice of War 42
Airpower: A New Practice of War 48
The Navy and Marine Corps 59
4 Truman, the Cold War, and the Creation of a New National Military Establishment, 1945-1950 65
Truman, the Policy of Containment, and National Strategy 66
Strategic Airpower and National Military Strategy 72
Army Opposition 81
5 The Korean War, The Opening Phases, 1950-1951 85
The Korean War 86
The Opening Phase: Walker's Battle for Pusan 92
The Inchon Landing 98
Crossing the 38th Parallel and the Chinese Intervention 103
Ridgway Takes Command: The Ground War 108
6 The Korean War, The Final Phases, 1951-1953 117
The Air War 119
Censorship, the Media, and Public Opinion 125
The Relief of General Douglas MacArthur 129
New Personnel Policies: The Results of Transformation 132
The Final Phase of the War: Defensive War of Attrition 142
Part II The Effort to Adapt 149
7 Eisenhower, the Cold War, and Massive Retaliation, 1953-1960 151
Eisenhower's Vision of War: The New Look 152
The Army's Fight against the New Look and the Doctrine of Massive Retaliation 156
The Chaotic Array of Nuclear Technologies 166
8 The New National Military Command Structure, Civil-Military Relations, and the Growth of Militarism, 1945-1975 171
The National Military Command Structure 173
Civil-Military Relations: Conflicting Loyalties 184
The Iron Triangle and the Growth of Militarism 193
9 Kennedy, McNamara, and Artificial Limited War, 1961-1963 199
Theories of Artificial Limited War 201
Kennedy: The Adoption of New Doctrines for War 208
Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara 210
McNamara's Reorganization of the Army 216
Army Aviation: the Helicopter 218
Communist Revolutionary War Doctrine and Army Counter-Revolutionary War Doctrine 221
10 The Vietnam War, The Opening Phases, 1955-1967 228
Geography and Strategy 229
The Vietnam War: Explaining American Involvement 231
The Advisory Phase 235
Johnson and the Americanization Phase 239
The Air War: Graduated Response 241
The Ground War: The Marine Corps vs. The Army 249
11 The Vietnam War, The Final Phases, 1967-1975 262
Censorship, the Media, and Public Opinion 263
New Personnel Policies: The Result of Transformation 265
McNamara Changes Course 274
The Tet Offensive 276
Nixon and the Vietnamization Phase 280
12 The Recovery and Reorganization of the Armed Forces of the United States, 1975-1990 289
The "Revolution" in Strategic Bombing Doctrine 290
To Rebuild an Army: Back to the Future 294
The Marine Corps's "New" Maneuver Warfare Doctrine 298
The Weinberger Strategic Doctrine: No More Graduated Response 300
The Goldwater Nichols Act: More Revision to the National Command Structure 302
Part III The New American Practice of War 309
13 The Persian Gulf War: Operation Desert Shield, 1990-1991 311
Saddam Hussein's Decision to Invade Kuwait 312
The Iraqi Army: Too Much Respect and Awe 315
Bush's War, or America's War? 318
Operation Desert Shield/Storm: Theater Strategy 321
14 The Persian Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm, 1991 331
The Air War 332
The Ground War 339
Military Victory and Political Failure 357
The Media and Public Opinion 361
The Verdict 363
15 The New American Practice of War: War Without the People 366
War Without the People: The Clustering of America 368
Civil-Military Relations: Who's in Charge? 373
The Revolution in Military Affairs 376
Jointness and Force Structure 383
16 The Global War on Terrorism and The War in Afghanistan: Operation Enduring Freedom, 2001-2011 391
Al-Qaeda vs. The Bush Administration 392
Terrorism and Counterterrorism 395
The Response: The GWOT and Bush Doctrine of Preemptive War 398
The War in Afghanistan: Operation Enduring Freedom, 2001-2008 404
Obama's War in Afghanistan: Operation Enduring Freedom, 2008-2011 412
17 The Second Persian Gulf War: Operation Iraqi Freedom I, The Conventional War, 2003 421
The Arguments and Decision for War 422
Operational Doctrine: Shock and Awe 431
Theater Strategy: Franks vs. Rumsfeld 433
Opposing Forces 438
The Air War 441
The Ground War 443
18 The Second Persian Gulf War: Operation Iraqi Freedom II, The Counterinsurgency War, 2003-2010 454
The Media, Public Opinion, and War 457
What Went Wrong: The Insurgency War 461
The Multi-National Force-Iraq: New Leadership, New Strategy, New Commitment 467
The New Way Forward: New Strategy, Leadership, Doctrine, and Tactics 473
Rumsfeld's War 482
19 The American Culture of War and the Future of Warfare 485
The American Culture of War 486
The Future of Warfare 494.
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN:
9780415890205
0415890209
9780415890199
0415890195
OCLC:
754518643

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