The United States of war : a global history of America's endless conflicts, from Columbus to the Islamic State
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
The United States of war : a global history of America's endless conflicts, from Columbus to the Islamic State
（California series in public anthropology, 48）
University of California Press, 2021, c2020
- : pbk
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Note
Originally published: 2020
Includes bibliographical references and index
"A Lawrence Grauman, Jr. book"--Back cover
Description and Table of Contents
Description
2020 L.A. Times Book Prize Finalist, History
A provocative examination of how the U.S. military has shaped our entire world, from today's costly, endless wars to the prominence of violence in everyday American life.
The United States has been fighting wars constantly since invading Afghanistan in 2001. This nonstop warfare is far less exceptional than it might seem: the United States has been at war or has invaded other countries almost every year since independence. In The United States of War, David Vine traces this pattern of bloody conflict from Columbus's 1494 arrival in Guantanamo Bay through the 250-year expansion of a global U.S. empire. Drawing on historical and firsthand anthropological research in fourteen countries and territories, The United States of War demonstrates how U.S. leaders across generations have locked the United States in a self-perpetuating system of permanent war by constructing the world's largest-ever collection of foreign military bases-a global matrix that has made offensive interventionist wars more likely. Beyond exposing the profit-making desires, political interests, racism, and toxic masculinity underlying the country's relationship to war and empire, The United States of War shows how the long history of U.S. military expansion shapes our daily lives, from today's multi-trillion-dollar wars to the pervasiveness of violence and militarism in everyday U.S. life. The book concludes by confronting the catastrophic toll of American wars-which have left millions dead, wounded, and displaced-while offering proposals for how we can end the fighting.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Preface
A Note on Language and Terminology
Introduction: "If We Build Them, Wars Will Come"
Part I Imperial Succession
1. Conquest
2. Occupied
Part II Expanding Empire
3. Why Are So Many Places Named Fort?
4. Invading Your Neighbors
5. The Permanent Indian Frontier
6. Going Global
Part III imperial transitions
7. The Military Opens Doors
8. Reopening the Frontier
Part IV Global Empire
9. Empire of Bases
10. The Spoils of War
11. Normalizing Occupation
12. Islands of Imperialism
13. The Colonial Present
14. Building Blowback
Part V Hyperimperialism
15. Did the "Cold War" End?
16. Out-of-Control War
17. War Is the Mission
Conclusion: Ending "Endless Wars"
Gratitude and Thanks
Appendix: U.S. Wars, Combat, and Other Combat Actions Abroad
Notes
Suggested Resources
Index
by "Nielsen BookData"