Hard Power: The New Politics of National Security

Front Cover
Basic Books, 2006 M10 3 - 319 pages
Our ideas about national security have changed radically over the last five years. It has become a political tool, a "wedge issue," a symbol of pride and fear. It is also the one issue above all others that can make or break an election. And this is why the Democratic Party has been steadily losing power since 2001. In Hard Power, Michael O'Hanlon, an expert on foreign policy at the Brookings Institution, and Kurt Campbell, an authority on international security at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, explain how the Democrats lost credibility on issues of security and foreign policy, how they can get it back--and why they must. They recall the successful Democratic military legacy of past decades, as well as recent Democratic innovations--like the Homeland Security Office and the idea of nation-building--that have been successfully co-opted by the Republican administration. And, most importantly, they develop a broad national security vision for America, including specific defense policies and a strategy to win the war on terror.

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Contents

Its the War Stupid Why National Security Is the Essential Electoral Issue
11
Irag The Myth of Republican Superiority and the Future
47
Managing the Military
75
Homeland Security Taking It to the Next Level
119
Winning the Long War
137
The Real Triple Threat Energy and Security Global Climate Change and Terrorist Financing
159
Rising in the East Coping with Chinas Ascent
185
A New Nonproliferation Strategy
211
CONCLUSION
237
Notes
253
Index
291
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About the author (2006)

Kurt Campbell is Senior Vice President and Director of the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He is a contributing writer to the New York Times and frequent on-air contributor to NPR's "All Things Considered," and a consultant to ABC News. He lives in Washington, D.C. Michael O'Hanlon is a Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution, where he has written books on defense strategy, arms control, and homeland security. He has contributed to numerous television programs and newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. He lives in Washington, D.C.

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