This wide-ranging, interdisciplinary analysis blends history, economics, and politics to challenge the prevailing accounts of the rise of U.S. militarism. While acknowledging the contributory role of some of the most widely-cited culprits, this study explores the bigger, but largely submerged, picture: the political economy of war and militarism.

This is a timely collection of essays utilizing the political economy approach to military spending, primarily by the United States. The articles deal specifically with the relationships between defense spending and: (a) political-business cycles, public opinion and the US-Soviet relationship; (b) military action - i.e. war; (c) economic performance - the trade deficit, guns versus butter issues and fiscal policy.

"The Oxford Handbook of Economic Imperialism examines unequal commercial, trade, and investment gains at the international level and explores how countries and nations can have exploitative relations. The book contains thirty-four chapters written by academics and experts in the field of international political economy. The chapters in the Handbook look at the history of economic imperialism from the early modern age to the present. They demonstrate the persistence of economic imperialism in today's postcolonial world and the enduring control wielded by great powers even after the end of formal empire. The book reveals how emerging powers are expanding economic control in new geographic and geopolitical contexts. The Handbook highlights the significance of economic imperialism in the structures, relations, processes, and ideas that help sustain poverty and conflict worldwide"--

Many Americans believe that foreign military intervention is central to protecting our domestic freedoms. But Christopher J. Coyne and Abigail R. Hall urge engaged citizens to think again. Overseas, our government takes actions in the name of defense that would not be permissible within national borders. Emboldened by the relative weakness of governance abroad, the U.S. government is able to experiment with a broader range of social controls. Under certain conditions, these policies, tactics, and technologies are then re-imported to America, changing the national landscape and increasing the extent to which we live in a police state. Coyne and Hall examine this pattern—which they dub "the boomerang effect"—considering a variety of rich cases that include the rise of state surveillance, the militarization of domestic law enforcement, the expanding use of drones, and torture in U.S. prisons. Synthesizing research and applying an economic lens, they develop a generalizable theory to predict and explain a startling trend. Tyranny Comes Home unveils a new aspect of the symbiotic relationship between foreign interventions and domestic politics. It gives us alarming insight into incidents like the shooting in Ferguson, Missouri and the Snowden case—which tell a common story about contemporary foreign policy and its impact on our civil liberties.

In this volume, Koistinen examines war planning and mobilizing in an era of rapid industrialization and reveals how economic mobilization for defense and war is shaped at the national level by the interaction of political, economic, and military institutions and by increasingly powerful and expensive weaponry.

Militarism and international relations in the 21st century -- Twenty-first century militarism : a historical-sociological framework / Martin Shaw -- Challenging cartographies of enmity : empire, war and culture in contemporary militarization / Simon Dalby -- Militarism, "new wars" and the political economy of development : a Gramscian critique / Nicola Short -- War becomes academic : human terrain, virtuous war and contemporary militarism: an interview with James der Derian / Anna Stavrianakis and Jan Selby -- From Oslo to Gaza : Israel's "enlightened public" and the remilitarization of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict / Yoav Peled -- From political armies to the "war against crime" : the transformation of militarism in Latin America / Dirk Kruijt and Kees Koonings -- The global arms trade and the diffusion of militarism / David Kinsella -- Wilsonians under arms / Andrew J. Bacevich -- The political economy of EU space policy militarization : the case of the global monitoring for environment and security / Iraklis Oikonomou -- Producing men, the nation and commodities : the cultural political economy of militarism in Egypt / Ramy M.K. Aly -- The Chinese military: its political and economic function / Kerry Brown and Claudia Zanardi.

The Handbook on the Political Economy of War highlights and explores important research questions and discusses the core elements of the political economy of war.