Collection of essays generally about high-level corruption, & the lie of private sector efficiency. Cockburn clearly comes from a military perspective of some sort (historian? Reporter?). The main thrust of most of the book is that U.S. foreign policy (especially alliances) & military policy (including deployments & procurement) are mostly determined by the defense industry & the Pentagon searching for dollars. 

Some other ideas include “The Military Industrial Virus” chapter suggesting that a bloated defense sector will devour the rest of the economy, not only through hogging resources that could be better used elsewhere, but also through generating a failing-upwards management culture. Cockburn argues that the latter dynamic playing out in the Soviet Union is what really damaged the Soviet/Russian economy, more than pure defense spending. 

Part 2 (“the New Cold War”) feels very suddenly dated as of a week & a half ago, but is still relevant as background to the current conflict in Ukraine, especially regarding key players in Ukraine, & the long build-up of tensions between NATO & Russia. I felt that Eastern European worries about their Russian neighbor as a driver for NATO expansion & how that was or was not used by hawkish elements in the U.S. & Western Europe could have been discussed further. 

The chapter about the war in Yemen “Acceptable Losses” reminded me of an inverted version of “The Mayors” in Asimov’s Foundation, where the Foundation’s client kingdoms’ military hardware is maintained by the Foundation’s technician-priests, thereby assuring the Foundation’s control. The relationship between the U.S. & Saudi Arabia’s military is reminiscent of this, with U.S. contractors & technicians being the sole means for keeping the Saudi Air Force’s planes running, except in reality the Saudis are dictating the U.S.’s policy because of their status as customer (who is always right) to the U.S. defense industry. It would be as if the Foundation had allowed the Anacreonians to bombard Terminus, but then billed them afterwards. It’s easy to see how that dynamic led to the Afghan client government’s rapid collapse when the U.S. removed its support. 

Finally, the chapter about sanctions “A Very Perfect Instrument” also very relevant right now, when sanctions on Russia are so much in the news.