{"product_id":"the-spoils-of-war-isbn-9781839763656","title":"The Spoils of War","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWhy does the United States go to war? \u003c\/i\u003eA leading \u003ci\u003eHarper’s\u003c\/i\u003e commentator on U.S. foreign affairs offers a withering exposé of runaway military spending and the profit-driven U.S. war machine.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAmerica has a long tradition of justifying war as the defense of democracy. The War on Terror was waged to protect the West from the dangers of Islamists. The US soldiers stationed in over 800 locations across the world are meant to be the righteous arbiters of justice. Against this background, Andrew Cockburn brilliantly dissects the true intentions behind Washington’s martial appetites.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe American war machine can only be understood in terms of the private passions and interests of those who control it—principally a passionate interest in money. Thus, as Cockburn witheringly reports, Washington expanded NATO to satisfy an arms manufacturer’s urgent financial requirements; the US Navy’s Pacific fleet deployments were for years dictated by a corrupt contractor who bribed high-ranking officers with cash and prostitutes; senior Marine commanders agreed to a troop surge in Afghanistan in 2017 for budgetary reasons.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBased on years of wide-ranging research, Cockburn lays bare the ugly reality of the largest military machine in history: as profoundly squalid as it is terrifyingly deadly.“Nothing I have read for years has so reoriented, even revolutionized, my thinking about the corporate\/political forces that underly our constructing and ‘modernizing’ a doomsday machine, the subject of my own life’s work I am urging everyone to read this book.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Daniel Ellsberg, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “[Cockburn] possesses a uniquely detailed knowledge of the arcane, lucrative machinations of this world, as well as a deep historical understanding of the forces that built it. And while the specifics change, the stories he tells all have the same shocking moral.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Jon Schwarz, \u003ci\u003eThe Intercept\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “This is robust, old-fashioned progressive, polemical journalism … Cockburn describes some shocking practices, and provides valuable critiques—for example, of the over-reliance on sanctions as a coercive instrument.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Lawrence Freedman, \u003ci\u003eNew Statesman\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “A devastatingly convincing account of the runaway nature of a powerful grouping of interests—the defence, intelligence and financial sectors in the US.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Mary Kaldor, \u003ci\u003eopenDemocracy\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “An accessible yet forensic account of not only why runaway military spending is wrong, but how.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Ed O’Loughlin, \u003ci\u003eIrish Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “A withering exposé reveals the insatiable and squalid profit motive that drives the US military apparatus—the largest in modern history.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eMorning Star\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Corruption is the recurring theme that runs through the US journalist Andrew Cockburn’s brilliant journalism collected in \u003ci\u003eThe Spoils of War\u003c\/i\u003e.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Richard Norton-Taylor, \u003ci\u003eDeclassified UK\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Painfully and presciently relevant to today’s issues … In another time, the kind of work that Cockburn has done for Spoils of War would gather nominations for prizes and placement on bestseller lists.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Winslow T. Wheeler, \u003ci\u003eReal Clear Defense\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Informative and entertaining.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Mike Phipps, \u003ci\u003eLabour Hub\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Cockburn presents a damning account of America’s military-industrial complex, culled from his best work over a decade on the paradoxical nature of American military power … \u003ci\u003eSpoils of War\u003c\/i\u003e is a meticulously researched book that presents a critical perspective on the ‘American War Machine.’”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Marc Martorell Junyent, \u003ci\u003eResponsible Statecraft\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eAndrew Cockburn\u003c\/b\u003e is the Washington Editor of \u003ci\u003eHarper’s\u003c\/i\u003e magazine and the author of many articles and books on national security, including including \u003ci\u003eRumsfeld\u003c\/i\u003e, a \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e Editor’s Choice, \u003ci\u003eThe Threat\u003c\/i\u003e, which destroyed the myth of Soviet military superiority underpinning the Cold War, and \u003ci\u003eKill Chain: Drones and the Rise of High-Tech Assassins\u003c\/i\u003e. He has written for, among others, the \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eNational Geographic\u003c\/i\u003e, and the \u003ci\u003eLondon Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e.","brand":"Verso","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46305507475685,"sku":"NP9781839763656","price":26.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781839763656.jpg?v=1767741632","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/the-spoils-of-war-isbn-9781839763656","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}