Base Nation

Base Nation PDF

Author: David Vine

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2015-08-25

Total Pages: 433

ISBN-13: 1627791698

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American military bases encircle the globe; from Italy to the Indian Ocean, from Japan to Honduras. The far-reaching story of the perils of the U. S. military bases and what these bases say about America today.

Base Nation

Base Nation PDF

Author: David Vine

Publisher: Metropolitan Books

Published: 2015-08-25

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 1627791701

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From Italy to the Indian Ocean, from Japan to Honduras, a far-reaching examination of the perils of American military bases overseas American military bases encircle the globe. More than two decades after the end of the Cold War, the U.S. still stations its troops at nearly a thousand locations in foreign lands. These bases are usually taken for granted or overlooked entirely, a little-noticed part of the Pentagon's vast operations. But in an eye-opening account, Base Nation shows that the worldwide network of bases brings with it a panoply of ills—and actually makes the nation less safe in the long run. As David Vine demonstrates, the overseas bases raise geopolitical tensions and provoke widespread antipathy towards the United States. They also undermine American democratic ideals, pushing the U.S. into partnerships with dictators and perpetuating a system of second-class citizenship in territories like Guam. They breed sexual violence, destroy the environment, and damage local economies. And their financial cost is staggering: though the Pentagon underplays the numbers, Vine's accounting proves that the bill approaches $100 billion per year. For many decades, the need for overseas bases has been a quasi-religious dictum of U.S. foreign policy. But in recent years, a bipartisan coalition has finally started to question this conventional wisdom. With the U.S. withdrawing from Afghanistan and ending thirteen years of war, there is no better time to re-examine the tenets of our military strategy. Base Nation is an essential contribution to that debate.

The United States of War

The United States of War PDF

Author: David Vine

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2021-09-07

Total Pages: 464

ISBN-13: 0520385683

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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.

Island of Shame

Island of Shame PDF

Author: David Vine

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2011-01-23

Total Pages: 287

ISBN-13: 0691149836

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David Vine recounts how the British & US governments created the Diego Garcia base, making the native Chagossians homeless in the process. He details the strategic significance of this remote location & also describes recent efforts by the exiles to regain their territory.

The World Factbook 2003

The World Factbook 2003 PDF

Author: United States. Central Intelligence Agency

Publisher: Potomac Books

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 712

ISBN-13: 9781574886412

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By intelligence officials for intelligent people

One Nation Under God

One Nation Under God PDF

Author: Kevin M. Kruse

Publisher: Basic Books

Published: 2015-04-14

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 0465040640

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The provocative and authoritative history of the origins of Christian America in the New Deal era We're often told that the United States is, was, and always has been a Christian nation. But in One Nation Under God, historian Kevin M. Kruse reveals that the belief that America is fundamentally and formally Christian originated in the 1930s. To fight the "slavery" of FDR's New Deal, businessmen enlisted religious activists in a campaign for "freedom under God" that culminated in the election of their ally Dwight Eisenhower in 1952. The new president revolutionized the role of religion in American politics. He inaugurated new traditions like the National Prayer Breakfast, as Congress added the phrase "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance and made "In God We Trust" the country's first official motto. Church membership soon soared to an all-time high of 69 percent. Americans across the religious and political spectrum agreed that their country was "one nation under God." Provocative and authoritative, One Nation Under God reveals how an unholy alliance of money, religion, and politics created a false origin story that continues to define and divide American politics to this day.

Dangerous Nation

Dangerous Nation PDF

Author: Robert Kagan

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2007-11-06

Total Pages: 546

ISBN-13: 0375724915

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Most Americans believe the United States had been an isolationist power until the twentieth century. This is wrong. In a riveting and brilliantly revisionist work of history, Robert Kagan, bestselling author of Of Paradise and Power, shows how Americans have in fact steadily been increasing their global power and influence from the beginning. Driven by commercial, territorial, and idealistic ambitions, the United States has always perceived itself, and been seen by other nations, as an international force. This is a book of great importance to our understanding of our nation’s history and its role in the global community.

A Nation Among Nations

A Nation Among Nations PDF

Author: Thomas Bender

Publisher: Hill and Wang

Published: 2006-12-12

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 9781429927598

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A provocative new book that shows us why we must put American history firmly in a global context--from 1492 to today Americans like to tell their country's story as if the United States were naturally autonomous and self-sufficient, with characters, ideas, and situations unique to itself. Thomas Bender asks us to rethink this "exceptionalism" and to reconsider the conventional narrative. He proposes that America has grappled with circumstances, doctrines, new developments, and events that other nations, too, have faced, and that we can only benefit from recognizing this. Bender's exciting argument begins with the discovery of the Americas at a time when peoples everywhere first felt the transforming effects of oceanic travel and trade. He then reconsiders our founding Revolution, occurring in an age of rebellion on many continents; the Civil War, happening when many countries were redefining their core beliefs about the nature of freedom and the meaning of nationhood; and the later imperialism that pitted the United States against Germany, Spain, France, and England. Industrialism and urbanization, laissez-faire economics, capitalism and socialism, and new technologies are other factors that Bender views in the light of global developments. A Nation Among Nations is a passionate, persuasive book that makes clear what damage is done when we let the old view of America alone in the world falsify our history. Bender boldly challenges us to think beyond our borders.

Custom Nation

Custom Nation PDF

Author: Anthony Flynn

Publisher: BenBella Books, Inc.

Published: 2012-11-15

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 1937856119

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Smart brands such as Chipotle, Zazzle, Nike, and Pandora are ditching the outdated 20th century model of a one-size-fits-all approach to providing products and services. From a Netflix movie night to a marriage courtesy of eHarmony, customization is changing every corner of American life and business. The New York Times bestseller Custom Nation is a practical how-to guide by someone who has built his business on the power of customization. YouBar founder Anthony Flynn and business journalist Emily Flynn Vencat explain how marketers, brand managers, and entrepreneurs across all industries can reinvigorate their businesses and increase profits. In Custom Nation, learn: • Why customization is key to today's businesses and what does and doesn't work • How to incorporate customization in new and established businesses to make your products stand out and sell • What strategies work for the most successful and profitable custom brands Drawing on firsthand interviews with the CEOs and founders of dozens of companies specializing in customization, Custom Nation reveals how customization can make any business stand apart and generate market share, increase profit margins, and develop customer loyalty.