Who Will Fight the Next War?: The Changing Face of the American MilitaryBrookings Institution Press, 2010 M12 1 - 192 pages The Persian Gulf conflict was the first major combat test for U.S. military forces since the nation ended conscription two decades ago. As hundreds of thousands of American troops were dispatched to the Middle East, the nation realized, seemingly for the first time, that the composition of its armed forces was far removed from any that the nation had previously sent to war. The deployment of unprecedented proportions of minorities and women and the prominent role of reserves and national guard troops aroused considerable interest, widespread debate, and some worry. The prospect that African Americans could bear a disproportionate share of military casualties generated a socially diverse debate that threatened to reopen old racial scars; the reality that American women were exposed to perils from which, by long and deep tradition, they had previously been shielded inspired calls for them to be admitted to combat specialties; and controversy surrounding the readiness of the Army's combat reserves led to an internecine struggle over the future shape of the U.S. Army. In this book, Martin Binkin addresses each of these issues in order to provide a better understanding of the composition of America's fighting forces, to prompt an assessment of attitudes toward who should fight in future wars, and to delineate the choices for influencing the social distribution of peril. Binkin argues that the time for public involvement is now, while the memories of the Persian Gulf conflict are still reasonably fresh and while a fundamental rethinking of the post-cold war military is under way. |
Contents
The Changing Face of the Military | 1 |
Women as Warriors? Equal Opportunity and National Security | 4 |
Expanding the Role of Women | 5 |
Lessons of the Persian Gulf Conflict | 17 |
Issues and Options | 25 |
The Presidential Commissions Report | 57 |
Narrowing the Uncertainties | 59 |
Peacetime Benefits and Wartime Burdens The Black Dilemma | 61 |
What Role for the Weekend Warriors? | 102 |
The Reserves and the Cold War | 103 |
The PostCold War Period | 116 |
Where Do the Reserves Go from Here? | 137 |
The Fundamental Issues | 156 |
Who Will Fight the Next War? | 165 |
Women as Warriors? | 166 |
The Black Dilemma | 168 |
Other editions - View all
Who Will Fight the Next War?: The Changing Face of the American Military Martin Binkin Limited preview - 2010 |
Who Will Fight the Next War?: The Changing Face of the American Military Martin Binkin No preview available - 1993 |