Cold War Flashcards
What were the two great miscalculations of the U.S. regarding the cold war issue?
1) That the Soviet Union was intent on Hitleresque military conquest and aggression; that it should be dealt with in the same manner as we dealt with Germany.
2) That the destructive qualities the nuclear weapon qualified it as the mainstay of our military posture; the faith we placed in it to assure our military and political ascendancy.
The primitive error that a weapon’s destructiveness directly correlates to its effectiveness mistakes the aim of war;
The aim of war is to gain one’s points with the minimum, not the maximum of general destruction; a proper weapon must be not only destructive, but discriminating.
What is the result of these two mistakes?
The extreme militarization of our thought and of our industry.
What is our national addiction?
Military industrial complex: the expenditure annually of a great portion of our national income on the production and export of armaments, and the maintenance of a vast armed force establishment.
With the fall of the Soviet Union, what does this mean for our exceptional interests in the military industry?
Thousands of firms, millions of lives derive their livelihood from the MIC; must either suffer the withdrawals of a veritable national addiction, or justify its existence through the creation of adversaries.
What are some of the types of waste associated with the American MIC?
1) Interservice rivalry for appropriations
- duplicated efforts
2) a double standard applied to the costs and results of the military economy versus the civilian one
- military innovation not survival driven, therefor
less incentive to streamline and shake the
bureaucracy.
What does de Tocqueville say about democracy and foreign policy?
“it is in the nature of democracies to have, for the most part, the most confused or erroneous ideas on external affairs, and to decide questions of foreign policy on purely domestic considerations.”
In European parliamentary systems, the minister must posture himself on the appeal of the parliament which can admonish/dissolve the ministry;
In America, statesmen are unfortunately under the spotlight of aggressive and vociferous minorities or lobbies (special interests).
Why does the special-interest/lobby pose a problem for foreign policy makers in making wise decisions based on truth and sound judgement?
Because there is more often than not a chauvinistic and militaristic disposition which they want our government to support…beating the jingoist bell as a means of furthering partisan purposes.
