‘Understanding the War industry’ by Christian Sorensen
The War Industry infests the American economy like a cancer, sapping its strength and distorting its creativity while devouring its treasure.
Stunning in the depth of its research, Understanding the War Industry documents how the war industry commands the other two sides of the military-industrial-congressional triangle. It lays bare the multiple levers enabling the vast and proliferating war industry to wield undue influence, exploiting financial and legal structures, while co-opting Congress, academia and the media. Spiked with insights into how corporate boardrooms view the troops, overseas bases, and warzones, it assiduously delineates how corporations reap enormous profits by providing a myriad of goods and services devoted to making war, which must be rationalized and used if the game is to go on: advanced weaponry, drones and nukes; invasive information technology; space-based weapons; and special operations—with contracts stuffed with ongoing and proliferating developmental, tertiary and maintenance products for all of it.
About the Author:
Christian Sorensen is a researcher and author focused on the U.S. war industry. His academic background is in translation and international relations. A military veteran, he contributes frequently to independent media outlets.
Reviews:
“To an ever-increasing extent, the business of America is the business of war. But although Americans live in the shadow of a war economy, few understand the full extent of its power and influence. Thanks to Christian Sorensen’s deeply researched book into the military-industrial complex that envelops our society, such ignorance can no longer be an excuse.” —ANDREW COCKBURN, author of Kill Chain: The Rise of the High Tech Assassins.
“A devastating account of American militarism, brilliantly depicted, and exhaustively researched in an authoritative manner. Sorensen’s book is urgent, fascinating reading for anyone who wants to save the country and the world from political, economic, and ecological disaster. Its message is so convincingly delivered that it will change many open minds forever and for the better.” —RICHARD FALK, International Lawyer
“Have you ever wondered why the United States is always at war? This meticulously researched book lays out in painstaking detail exactly how our nation has been captured by a war industry that profits from endless conflict and pursues profit at all costs. It will shock you, infuriate you, and hopeful inspire you to help dismantle the grotesque killing machine that steals our resources, wreaks havoc around the world, and leaves the merchants of death laughing all the way to the bank.” — MEDEA BENJAMIN, codirector, CODEPINK for Peace
“I’m adding Christian Sorensen’s new book, Understanding the War Industry , to the list of books I think will convince you to help abolish war and militaries… [It is] not so much analysis as an effort to persuade through the repetition of examples, countless examples, naming names and laid out over hundreds of pages. The author admits that he’s only scratching the surface. But he’s scratching it in lots of different places, and the result ought to be persuasive for most people”—DAVID SWANSON, World BEYOND War
“Christian Sorensen is the Seymour Melman of the 21st century, dissecting the military-industrial-congressional complex and providing us a way to understand this convoluted machine which exploits and oppresses the entire world…” —WILL GRIFFIN, founder and director of The Peace Report. “It has long been obvious that America’s numerous, hugely expensive and destructive and seemingly perpetual wars of choice have not been intended to serve any interests of the vast majority of the American people. In Understanding the War Industry, Christian Sorensen presents detailed and thoroughly documented evidence to convincingly support his conviction that the dominant force among those seeking war for the sake of war is the pursuit of profit maximization by the corporate “war industry”. He concludes: “There will be no escape from interminable wars until this reality is recognized and resisted.” This book offers a major contribution to that struggle.”— JOHN V. WHITBECK, International Laywer