Author Miriam Pemberton

Discussing her latest book

Six Stops on the National Security Tour Rethinking Warfare Economies (Routledge, 2022)

Book Description
 The U.S. military economy incorporates hundreds of American communities. This is the first book to connect our national security apparatus to the local level via deeply reported portraits of six carefully selected locations, including military Meccas and out-of-the-way places. They are woven into the warfare economy by bases, nuclear weapons labs, and production sites. The book includes an invaluable overview of how the military is structured, how its budget is made, and what it costs. It also shows how the military economy perpetuates itself. In on-the-ground reporting, Pemberton traces the lines of connection between the tour stops presented here and our country’s foreign policy, industrial policy, and budget priorities. She examines the meaning of national security in the current moment, as climate change becomes what the military itself calls "an urgent and growing threat." And she dramatically demonstrates how redirecting our militarized foreign and industrial policy toward climate security can help these communities become part of the solution. For students, scholars, public servants, and all concerned citizens, this book is essential reading.

Bio:

Miriam Pemberton is an Associate Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies. Formerly she directed its Peace Economy Transitions Project, focusing on helping to build the foundations of a postwar economy at the federal, state and local levels.

 With Lawrence Korb, she headed the annual Task Force on “A Unified Security Budget for the United States,” which examined the balance of spending on military and non-military security tools and argued for a rebalanced security budget. She also headed a team that produced three “Military vs. Climate Security” reports comparing federal spending on the two security domains, and arguing for a shift of security resources toward mitigating climate change.

With William Hartung, now of the Quincy Institute, she co-edited Lessons from Iraq: Avoiding the Next War (Paradigm Publishers, 2008).

As an Associate Fellow, she has published Six Stops on the National Security Tour: Rethinking Warfare Economies (Routledge, 2022). It provides an overview of the Military Industrial Complex and its means of perpetuating itself. And through portraits of six military-dependent communities across the U.S. it demonstrates how redirecting our militarized foreign and industrial policy toward climate security can help communities like these become part of the solution to the climate crisis.

She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.

This event cosponsored by the City of New Haven Peace Commission

For more info call Seth at 203-946-7450 or email sgodfrey@nhfpl.org

Upcoming events