The Sorrows of Empire (73 page)

“Vision for 2020” (Space Command policy statement),
81

Vuono, Carl E.,
141

VX nerve agent,
302

Waco, Texas, assault of 1993,
121

Waddle, Scott D.,
116

Waldron, Michael,
107

Wallerstein, Immanuel,
287

Wall Street Journal,
163

Wal-Mart,
144

Walsh, Jim,
85

war.
See also
“preventive war”

citizens in armed forces,
64

imperialism and,
187
,
214
–15

movies about,
112
–13

perpetual or permanent,
285
,
291
,
309

pretexts for,
214
,
301
–3

profiteering,
277
,
279
–81

space and,
27
–28

technology of,
27
–28,
288
–91

“total,”
28

war crimes,
4
,
74
–75

War Department,
45
,
117

“war on drugs,”
167
,
278
–79

“war on terrorism,”
2
,
4
,
21
,
68

assassinations and,
291

Bush II declares,
6
,
292
,
294

cost of,
306

globalization and,
272

Iraq and,
229
,
235

military bases and,
215

oil and,
167
,
169
,
176
,
227

Philippines and,
193
,
213
–14

preventive war and,
286

training of foreign troops and,
132
,
133

unilateralism and,
77

warrior culture,
26
–27,
61
,
188

Warsaw Pact,
19
,
162
,
197
–98

Washington, George,
39
,
44
,
46
,
48

“Washington Consensus,”
260
,
268
–69,
276

Washington Post,
67
,
172
,
201
,
292
,
304

Watergate,
3
,
118
,
284
,
295

Watson, Roland,
110

Wayne, John,
58
–59

“weapons of mass destruction,”
20
,
22
,
188

Cold War and,
258

Iraq and,
94
,
229
–31,
302
–3

secret funds and,
117

unilateralism and,
77
,
285

weapons purchases,
55
–56,
55

weapons sales,
124
,
132
,
135
,
137
,
251

amount of,
63
,
133
,
214

to Iraq,
224
,
225

subsidized,
278
–81

Weaver, Randy,
121

Weber, Max,
12
,
13

Weekly Standard,
228

Weinberger, Caspar,
18
,
114

Weiner, Tim,
128

Wells, Andrew,
36

Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHISC),
136
–37

West Point,
5
–6,
104

Wheeler, Winslow T,
292

White, Thomas E.,
63

White Beach (Okinawa),
163

“white man’s burden,”
261

whites, racial gangs and,
110

Whitlam, Gough,
162
–63

Willard, Robert,
109

Wilson, Woodrow,
46
–51,
191

Wilsonian idealism,
70
–71,
189

Wings
(film),
112

Wolff, Michael,
249

Wolfowitz, Paul,
85
–86,
126
–27,
178
,
183
,
228
,
234
,
279
,
295
,
305

women,
214

in armed forces,
99
,
104
–6,
241

Taliban and,
72
,
178
,
180
,
233

Woodward, Bob,
172
,
292

World Bank,
71
,
256
,
262
,
264
–69,
273
–76,
278

World Court,
75

world summit on sustainable development (South Africa),
257

world systems theory,
287

World Trade Center bombing of 1993,
121
,
139
.
See also
September 11, 2001 attacks

World Trade Organization (WTO),
256
,
259
,
261
–62,
269
–75,
277

World War I,
36
,
47
–52,
70
,
189

World War II,
2
,
10
,
37
,
58
–59,
121
,
164
,
252

defense budget secrecy and,
12
,
117

demographics of armed forces,
102
,
188

economic imperialism after,
257
–58

military bases and,
35
,
189
,
190
,
193
–203

militarism unleashed by,
52
–55

Philippines and,
43
,
207

territory acquired in,
32
,
34

Worldwide Manpower Distribution by Geographical Area
(Manpower Report),
153
–54

Wurmser, David,
234
,
235

Wurmser, Meyrav,
235

Yalta agreement,
33

Yemen,
27
,
252

Yokosuka naval base (Japan),
201

Yongbyon nuclear plant (North Korea),
94

Yongsan Army Garrison (South Korea),
92

Yoon, Kum E.,
92

Youssef, Fayeza,
230

Yugoslavia,
143
,
155
.
See also
Balkans; Serbia

Z (film),
205

Zahir Shah, king of Afghanistan,
178

Zaire,
144

Zapata Company,
233

Zinni, Anthony C,
124
,
125

Zoellick, Robert,
275

Zubok, Vladislav,
19

Zulus,
82

Zweibrüchen Airfield (Germany),
195

C
HALMERS
J
OHNSON
is the author of the acclaimed
Blowback
and president of the Japan Policy Research Institute, as well as professor emeritus at the University of California, San Diego. A frequent contributor to the
London Review of Books
and
The Nation,
among other periodicals, he has also written numerous books on Japan and Asia, including
MITI and the Japanese Miracle
and
Japan: Who Governs?
He lives near San Diego.

THE PROVOCATIVE—AND ALARMINGLY RELEVANT—NATIONAL BESTSELLER ON THE
CONSEQUENCES OF AMERICAN-STYLE MILITARISM, HAILED AS “TRENCHANTLY
ARGUED, COMPREHENSIVELY DOCUMENTED ... WORTHY OF THE REPUBLIC IT
SEEKS TO DEFEND”
(THE BOSTON GLOBE)

* * *

In the years after the Soviet Union imploded, the United States was described first as the globe’s “lone superpower,” then as a “reluctant sheriff,” next as the “indispensable nation,” and, in the wake of 9/11, as a “New Rome.” In this important and bestselling book, Chalmers Johnson explores the new militarism that is transforming America and compelling its people to pick up the burden of empire.

Recalling the classic warnings against militarism—from George Washington’s Farewell Address to Dwight Eisenhower’s denunciation of the military-industrial complex—Johnson uncovers its roots deep in our past. Turning to the present, he maps America’s empire of military bases and identifies the new caste of professional militarists overseeing its expansion. This militarism, Johnson concludes, is already putting an end to the age of globalization, bankrupting the United States, and creating conditions for a new century of virulent blow-back.
The Sorrows of Empire
suggests that the former American republic has already crossed its Rubicon—with the Pentagon in the lead.

* * *

“In
Blowback,
published before September 11, Chalmers Johnson introduced us to a chilling code word for our times.
The Sorrows of Empire
is even more sobering, for it associates the United States with a dynamic most Americans still find unmentionable—our ever-deepening militarism. Here is a scholar’s critique and a patriot’s cry, presented with unflinching courage.”

—John W. Dower, author of
Embracing Defeat,
winner of the Pulitzer Prize

“A frightening picture of a military-industrial complex grown into exactly the powerful, secretive force that Dwight 0. Eisenhower warned against.”

—
The New York Times Book Review

CHALMERS JOHNSON, president of the Japan Policy Research Institute, is a frequent contributor to the
London Review of Books
and
The Nation.
His previous books include the national bestseller
Blowback,
as well as
MITI and the Japanese Miracle. He lives near San Diego.