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Michael Brenes joins us to discuss his book, For Might and Right: Cold War Defense Spending and the Remaking of American Democracy. (Co-Sponsored by the New Haven Peace Commission!)
Michael Brenes is the Associate Director of the Brady-Johnson Program in Grand Strategy and Lecturer in History at Yale University. He is the author of For Might and Right: Cold War Defense Spending and the Remaking of American Democracy. In addition to his academic articles and book chapters, his work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Politico, Foreign Policy, and The Nation, among other outlets.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
How did the global Cold War influence American politics at home? For Might and Right traces the story of how Cold War defense spending remade participatory politics, producing a powerful and dynamic political coalition that reached across party lines. This “Cold War coalition” favored massive defense spending over social welfare programs, bringing together a diverse array of actors from across the nation, including defense workers, community boosters, military contractors, current and retired members of the armed services, activists, and politicians. Faced with neoliberal austerity and uncertainty surrounding America’s foreign policy after the 1960s, increased military spending became a bipartisan solution to create jobs and stimulate economic growth, even in the absence of national security threats.
Using a rich array of archival sources, Michael Brenes draws important connections between economic inequality and American militarism that enhance our understanding of the Cold War’s continued impact on American democracy and the resilience of the military-industrial complex, up to the age of Donald Trump.
AGE GROUP: | Teens (13-17) | Adults (18+) |
EVENT TYPE: | Virtual Program |
TAGS: | politics | BSI | Books Sandwiched In | book discussion | author |
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2019 Recipient of National Medal for