Defining Defense

The issues of the defense budget, national security, and American foreign policy have become increasingly contested in today's political environment. In this booklet, former Pentagon Analyst Earl C. Ravenal, professor of international relations at Georgetown University, offers a unique reassessment of what American security means in an uncontrollable world. Ravenal takes us beyond the superficial critiques of the U.S. military budget to show how the Pentagon's budget is related to worldwide commitments, and how such alliances pose real dangers for American security in the years ahead. Ravenal defends a noninterventionist foreign policy as a realistic alternative to our bipartisan policy of global entanglements, as well as a means of making substantial reductions in our military spending. He carefully dissects the Reagan administration's 1985 budget request, and advances a profound challenge to today's conventional wisdom in foreign policy and defense.