R. Samuels – Encyclopedia of United States National Security (2006)

Автор: R. Samuels
Название книги: Encyclopedia of United States National Security
Формат: PDF
Жанр: История Америки, Австралии, Океании
Страницы: 972
Качество: Изначально компьютерное, E-book

With over 750 entries, the Encyclopedia of United States National Security is the first single, concise reference source to provide accurate and informative answers to the many challenging questions of how, why, when, and where national security has evolved. In addition to presenting historical facts and analyses, this two-volume encyclopedia is designed to provide a comprehensive introduction to some of the more complicated and abstract questions concerning world politics and national security. A thoroughly interdisciplinary work, this encyclopedia views national security from historical, economic, political, and technological perspectives.

Security is like the air we breathe. We take it for
granted until there is too little of it, at which point
getting enough of it is all that matters. Aside from
December 7, 1941, and September 11, 2001, the
United States has been blessed in that most of its
citizens have rarely felt an urgent need for national
protection. Still, Americans have fought a great many
wars and have suffered the loss of millions of its soldiers
and civilians. And today, since the tragic events
of 9/11, we know that the topic of national security
has never been of broader concern to all Americans.
Rarely have we felt as threatened as we do in the current
security environment.
Ironically, most Americans feel vulnerable despite
the fact that the United States is the largest military
power the world has ever known. Annual U.S. defense
spending is larger than the total defense budgets of the
next 25 nations combined, and the budget of the U.S.
Marine Corps alone (the smallest of the four U.S. military
branches) is larger than that of the entire military
of the United Kingdom.
The U.S. military has rarely been idle—even in
peacetime. In the relatively peaceful quarter-century
from the April 1975 evacuation of Saigon until the
February 2001 Operation Desert Focus in Kuwait, U.S.
forces were deployed in nearly 90 separate missions
abroad. Today, of course, we are used to news about
U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq, but thousands
of U.S. soldiers, sailors, pilots, and marines are engaged
in active deterrence, combat, or peacekeeping operations
in other countries as well—from Colombia to
the Philippines, from Bosnia to Korea.
Interest in (and the need for informed discussion of)
national security has never been more pressing. As
a result, the Encyclopedia of United States National
Security is written by specialists with a broad audience
in mind. Our goal is to encourage curiosity about
international affairs and, in particular, about the long
list of issues that affect our national security. Our
hope is that the design of the Encyclopedia will help
enlighten everyone from high school and college
students who need reliable information for a term
paper to postgraduate students who demand better
information to make more-informed choices at a time
when the air seems to be getting thin again.
—Richard J. Samuels