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Abstract/Syllabus:
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Sapolsky, Harvey, 17.460 Defense Politics, Spring 2006. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT OpenCourseWare), http://ocw.mit.edu (Accessed 09 Jul, 2010). License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA
Defense Politics
Spring 2006
U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of Defense.)
Course Highlights
This course features an extensive list of readings and Web links in the related resources section. A list of suggested topics for the final research paper is also available in the assignments section.
Course Description
This course focuses on the institutional relationships that affect the raising, maintenance and use of military forces in the United States. It is about civil/military, government/industry, military/science and military service/military service relations.
The course examines how politicians, defense contractors, and military officers determine the military might of the United States. It analyzes the military strategies of the nation and the bureaucratic strategies of the armed services, contractors, and defense scientists. It offers a combination of military sociology, organizational politics, and the political economy of defense.
Syllabus
Course Requirements
The course requirements are a referenced and footnoted research paper of 25-35 pages on an approved topic related to U.S. defense politics for all graded students. Undergraduates are also required to take a mid-term examination.
Suggested paper topics are listed in the assignments section. These are only suggested topics. You are not required to pick from the list. You are required, though, to clear the topic with me. Think of topics on which you can do the research and produce a paper within the time limits of the semester. The papers are due on the last day of classes.
Grading
For both undergraduate and graduate students, class participation counts for 20% of the grade. Graduate students' papers will count for 80% of their remaining grade, while undergraduates will have the mid-term count for 30% and the term paper for 50%.
For Graduate Students
ACTIVITIES |
PERCENTAGES |
Class Participation |
20% |
Student Papers |
80% |
For Undergraduate Students
Undergraduate grading criteria.
ACTIVITIES |
PERCENTAGES |
Class Participation |
20% |
Mid-term |
30% |
Term Paper |
50% |
Calendar
LEC # |
TOPICS |
KEY DATES |
1 |
U.S. Civil - Military Relations |
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2 |
America's Security Strategy |
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3 |
Who Fights America's Wars? |
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4 |
The Military and National Politics |
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5 |
The Political Economy of Defense |
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6 |
Acquiring Weapons |
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Mid-term Exam |
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7 |
Managing Defense |
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8 |
Inter and Intra-service Politics |
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9 |
Congress, Foreign Policy and Public Opinion |
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10 |
Presidents, National Security and Public Opinion |
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11 |
Cargo Cults, Homeland Defense, and Medicare |
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12 |
Let'em Fight: Preparing for the Next War |
Research paper due |
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Further Reading:
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Readings
Course readings.
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LEC #
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TOPICS
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READINGS
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1
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U.S. Civil - Military Relations
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Lewis, Kevin. "The Discipline Gap and Other Reasons for Humility and Realism in Defense Planning." In New Challenges for Defense Planning: Rethinking How Much is Enough. Edited by Paul Davis. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corp., 1994, pp. 101-132. ISBN: 9780833015273.
Shepherd, Alistair J. K. "Evolution of Security Agencies and Departments." In A New Structure for National Security Planning. Edited by Stephen A. Cambone. Washington, DC: Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1998, pp. 145-171. ISBN: 9780892063451.
Sapolsky, Harvey M., Eugene Gholz, and Allen Kaufman. "Security Lessons from the Cold War." Foreign Affairs 78, no. 4 (July/August 1999): 77-89.
Johnson, Douglas V., and Steven Metz. "Civil Military Relations in the United States." Washington Quarterly 18 (Winter 1995): 197-213.
Wilson, James Q. Bureaucracy. New York, NY: Basic Books, 1991, chapter 1, pp. 3-28. ISBN: 9780465007851.
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2
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America's Security Strategy
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Roland, Alex. "Technology, Ground Warfare, and Strategy: The Paradox of American Experience." Journal of Military History (October 1991): 447-467.
Cohen, Eliot A. "The Mystique of U.S. Air Power." Foreign Affairs 73, no. 1 (January/February 1994): 109-124.
Friedberg, Aaron L. "Why Didn't the United States Become a Garrison State?" International Security 16, no. 4 (Spring 1992): 109-142.
Sapolsky, Harvey M., and Jeremy Shapiro. "Casualties, Technology and America's Future Wars." Parameters - U.S. Army War College Quarterly XXVI, no. 2 (Summer 1996): 119-127.
Jervis, Robert. "Mission Impossible: Creating a Grand Strategy." In The New American Interventionism. Edited by D. J. Caraley. New York, NY: Columbia Press, 1999, pp. 205-218. ISBN: 9780231118491.
Rieff, David. At the Point of a Gun: Democratic Dreams and Armed Intervention. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2005, pp. 151-256. ISBN: 9780684808673.
Mueller, John. "The Iraq Syndrome." Foreign Affairs (November/December 2005).
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3
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Who Fights America's Wars?
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Davis, Vincent. "Levee en Masse, C'est Fini: The Deterioration of Popular Willingness to Serve." In New Civil-Military Relations. Edited by John Lovell and Philip Kronenberg. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction, 1974, pp. 89-108. ISBN: 9780878550753.
Mazur, Allan. "Was Vietnam a Class War?" Armed Forces and Society (Spring 1995): 455-459.
Moskos, Charles C., and John Sibley Butler. All That We Can Be: Black Leadership and Racial Integration the Army Way. New York, NY: Basic Books, 1996. ISBN: 9780465001088.
Nataraj Kirby, Sheila, et al. "Why Don't Minorities Join Special Forces?" Armed Forces and Society (Summer 2000): 523-545.
Boyer, Peter J. "Admiral Boorda's War." The New Yorker, September 16, 1996, pp. 68-86.
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4
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The Military and National Politics
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Bacevich, Andrew J. "Generals versus the President: Eisenhower and the Army 1953-1955." In Security in a Changing World. Edited by Volker C. Franke. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002, pp. 83-100. ISBN: 9780275972806.
Buzzanco, Robert. "The Myth of Tet: American Failure and the Politics of War." In The Tet Offensive. Edited by Marc Gilbert and William Head. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1996, pp. 231-258. ISBN: 9780275954819.
Luttwak, Edward N. "From Vietnam to Desert Fox: Civil-Military Relation in Modern Democracies." Survival (Spring 1999): 99-112.
Feaver, Peter D., and Richard H. Kohn. "The Gap." National Interest 61 (Fall 2000): 29-38.
Cohen, Eliot A. "Why the Gap Matters." National Interest 61 (Fall 2000): 39-49.
Post, Robert C. "A Narrative for Our Time; The Enola Gay and after that, period." Technology and Culture 45, no. 2 (April 2004): 373-395.
Wilson, James Q., and Karlyn Bowman. "Defining the 'peace party'." The Public Interest (Fall 2003): 69-78.
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5
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The Political Economy of Defense
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Kurth, James R. "The Military Industrial Complex Revisited." In American Defense Annual 1989-1990. Edited by J. Kruzel. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall & IBD, 1989, pp. 195-215. ISBN: 9780669211191.
Lee, Dwight R. "Public Goods, Politics, and Two Cheers for the Military-Industrial Complex." In Arms, Politics, and the Economy: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives. New York, NY: Holmes & Meier, 1990, pp. 22-36. ISBN: 9780945999652.
Sapolsky, Harvey M., and Eugene Gholz. "Restructuring the U.S. Defense Industry." International Security 4, no. 3 (Winter 1999-2000): 5-51.
Apgar, Mahlon, IV, and John M. Keane. "New Business with the New Military." Harvard Business Review (September 2004): 45-56.
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6
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Acquiring Weapons
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McNaugher, Thomas L. "Weapons Procurement: Futility of Reform." In America's Defense. Edited by M. Mandelbaum. New York, NY: Holmes & Meier, 1989, pp. 68-112. ISBN: 9780841911574.
Wirls, Daniel. "Congressional Procurement Reform." In Buildup: The Politics of Defense in the Reagan Era. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1992, pp. 169-197. ISBN: 9780801424427.
Sapolsky, Harvey M. "Myth and Reality in Project Planning and Control." In Macro-Engineering and the Future: A Management Perspective. Edited by Frank Davidson and C. Lawrence Meador. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1982, pp. 173-182. ISBN: 0608059544.
———. "Inventing Systems Integration." In The Business of Systems Management. Edited by Andrea Prencipe, Andrew Davies, and Michael Hobday. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2005, pp. 13-34. ISBN: 9780199263233.
Statement of Katherine V. Schinasi, Government Accounting Office. "DOD Acquisition Outcomes: Case for Change." Testimony before Subcommittee on Airland, Committee on Armed Services, U.S. Senate, November 15, 2005.
"Defense Acquisition Performance Assessment, Executive Summary." A Report by the Assessment Panel of the Defense Acquisition Performance Assessment Project, December 2005.
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Mid-term Exam
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7
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Managing Defense
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Rosen, Stephen P. "Systems Analysis and the Quest for Rational Defense." Public Interest (Summer 1984): 3-17.
Wildavsky, Aaron. "If Planning is Everything, Maybe It's Nothing." Policy Sciences 4 (1973): 127-153.
Lehman, John F., Jr. "Why I Wanted the Job and How I Got It," and "Rickover and the Navy Soul." In Command of the Seas: Building the 600 Ship Navy. New York, NY: Scribners, 1989, pp. 1-38 and 92-112. ISBN: 9780684189956.
Cohen, Eliot A. "A Tale of Two Secretaries." Foreign Affairs (May/June 2002): 33-46.
———. "Change and Transformation in Military Affairs." Journal of Strategic Studies 27, no. 3 (September 2004): 395-407.
Sapolsky, Harvey M. "The Science and Politics of Defense Analysis." In The Social Sciences Go to Washington. Edited by Ham Cravens. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2003, pp. 67-78. ISBN: 9780813533414.
Suggested Readings
Kanter, Arnold. Defense Politics: A Budgetary Perspective. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1979. ISBN: 9780226423739.
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8
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Inter and Intra-service Politics
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Builder, Carl H. The Masks of War. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins, 1989. ISBN: 9780801837760.
Sapolsky, Harvey M. "On the Theory of Military Innovation." Breakthroughs (Spring 2000): 25-39.
Millett, Allan R. "Why the Army and the Marine Corps Should Be Friends." Parameters (Winter 1994-95): 30-40.
Barry, John L., and James Blaker. "After the Storm: The Growing Convergence of the Air Force and Navy." Naval War College Review LIV, no. 4 (Autumn 2001): 118-133.
Scroggs, Stephen K. "MIAI Tank Transfer." Chapter 5 in Army Relations With Congress: Thick Armor, Dull Sword, Slow Horse. Westport, CN: Praeger, 2000, pp. 175-213. ISBN: 9780275961763.
Hallion, Richard P. "A Troubling Past: Air Force Fighter Acquisition since 1945." Airpower Journal (March 1990): 4-23.
Hoffman, Frank. "Goldwater-Nichols After a Decade." In The Emerging Strategic Environment. Edited by Willamson Murray. Westport, CN: Praeger, 1999, pp. 156-182. ISBN: 9780275965730.
Roman, Peter, and David Tarr. "The Joint Chiefs of Staff: From Service Parochialism to Jointness." Political Science Quarterly (Spring 1998): 91-111.
Suggested Readings
Michel, Marshall L., III. Clashes: Air Combat over North Vietnam 1965-1972. Annapolis, MD: U.S. Naval Institute Press, 1997, chapters 1-5, 8, and 9, pp. 1-180 and 250-296. ISBN: 9781557505859.
Center for Strategic and International Studies. Beyond Goldwater - Nichols: Defense Reform for a New Strategic Era. (PDF - 2.5 MB)
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9
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Congress, Foreign Policy and Public Opinion
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Lindsay, James M. "Congress and Defense Policy." Armed Forces and Society 13 (Spring 1987): 371-401.
Livington, Steve, and Todd Eachus. "Humanitarian Crises and U.S. Foreign Policy: Somalia and the CNN Effect Reconsidered." Political Communication 12 (1995): 413-429.
Banks, William C., and Jeffrey D. Straussman. "A New Imperial Presidency? Insights from U.S. Involvement in Bosnia." In The New American Interventionism. Edited by D. J. Caraley. New York, NY: Columbia, 1999, pp. 39-62. ISBN: 9780231118491.
Fisher, Louis. "Clinton's Military Actions: No Rivals in Sight." In Rivals for Power: Presidential-Congressional Relations. Edited by James A. Thurber. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefeld, 2001, pp. 229-253. ISBN: 9780742509917.
Fettweis, Christopher J. "Militarizing Diplomacy: Warrior-Diplomats and the Foreign Policy Process." In America Viceroys. Edited by Derek S. Reveron. New York, NY: Palgrave 2004, pp. 47-70. ISBN: 9781403964137.
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10
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Presidents, National Security and Public Opinion
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Divine, Robert. The Sputnik Challenge. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1993, pp. 1-60, 157-205, 213-221 and 230-235. ISBN: 9780195050080.
Wirls, Daniel. "The Strategic Defense Initiative," and "From Buildup to Build-Down." In Buildup: The Politics of Defense in the Reagan Era. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1992, pp. 133-168 and 198-226. ISBN: 9780801424427.
Deputy Secretary of Defense Wolfowitz Interview with Sam Tannenhaus, Vanity Fair
Western, Jon. "The War over Iraq." In Selling Intervention and War. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005, pp. 175-219. ISBN: 9780801881091.
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11
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Cargo Cults, Homeland Defense, and Medicare
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Lift
Truver, Scott C., and Stephen Keller. "Sailing into the Sunset." Seapower (May 1998): 12-18.
Werrell, Kenneth P. "The Dark Ages of Strategic Airlift: The Propeller Era." Air Force History (Fall 2003): 20-33.
"Military Sealift Command Ships; Maritime Administration." Seapower (January 2006): 41-52, 140-144.
Homeland Security
Daalder, Ivo, and I. M. Destler. "Advisors, Czars and Councils." The National Interest, no. 68 (Summer 2002).
Glasser, Susan, and Michael Grunwald. "Department's Mission Was Undermined From Start." Series on Homeland Security. Washington Post, December 22, 2005.
Grunwald, Michael, and Susan Glasser. "Brown's Turf Wars Sapped FEMA's Strength." Series on Homeland Security. Washington Post, December 23, 2005.
Wilson, James Q. "Thinking about Reorganization." In U.S. Intelligence at the Crossroads. Edited by Roy Godson, Ernest R. May, and S. Gary Schmitt. Washington, DC: Brassey, 1995, pp. 28-35. ISBN: 9781574880366.
Perspectives on Health Care
"TRENDS: National Health Spending in 2004: Recent Slowdown Led By Prescription Drug Spending." Health Affairs 25, no. 1 (January/February 2006): 186-196.
Comments by Cutler, David, James Lubitz, and Bruce Vladeck. "Health and Costs of the Future Elderly." A Supplement to Health Affairs 24, no. 2 (December 2005): W5-R77-85 and 94-96.
Fuchs, Victor R., and Ezekiel J. Emmanuel. "Health Care Reform-Why, What, When?" Health Affairs 24 (December 2005): 1399-1415.
Suggested Readings
Wilson, James O. Bureaucracy. New York, NY: Basic Books, 1991, chapters 10-12 and 14, pp. 129-234 and 257-276. ISBN: 9780465007851.
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12
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Let'em Fight: Preparing for the Next War
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May, Ernest R. "Intelligence: Backing Into the Future." Foreign Affairs (Summer 1992): 63-72.
Shapiro, Jeremy. "Information and War: Is It A Revolution?" Strategic Appraisal: The Changing Role of Information Warfare. Edited by Zalmay M. Khalilzad and John P. White. Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corp., 1999, pp. 113-153. ISBN: 9780833026637.
Sapolsky, Harvey M. "The Interservice Competition Solution." Joint Force Quarterly (Spring 1996): 50-53.
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