Get our latest staff recommendations, award news and digital catalog links right to your inbox.
Resurgence of the Warfare State
The Crisis Since 9/11
Part of The Essential Robert Higgs
By Robert Higgs
Published by Independent Institute
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
Table of Contents
About The Book
Exploring the politics and morality that pulled the United States into wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, this collection of essays, stories, and satirical pieces lambasts the highest officials in the executive branch for incompetence and moral blindness.
Immediately after 9/11, government officials and commentators claimed that the terrorist attacks had "changed everything." In contrast, economist and historian Robert Higgs warned that history would likely repeat itself in one key respect: the government’s hasty reactions would resemble its responses to previous crises, providing little more than opportunities for special interests to feather their nests and for the government itself to expand its powers at the expense of the public’s wealth and civil liberties.
Resurgence of the Warfare State is Robert Higgs’s real-time analysis of the U.S. government’s tragic but predictable response: the quick enactment of the USA PATRIOT Act, the federal takeover of airport security, the massive increase in defense and other government spending, and the carnage in Afghanistan and Iraq wrought by leaders unaccountable for their costly and deadly mistakes.
Governmental responses to crises have been—and will likely continue to be—a bonanza for political, corporate, and even religious opportunists who seek power and ?nancial gain by exploiting the fears of the American public.
Immediately after 9/11, government officials and commentators claimed that the terrorist attacks had "changed everything." In contrast, economist and historian Robert Higgs warned that history would likely repeat itself in one key respect: the government’s hasty reactions would resemble its responses to previous crises, providing little more than opportunities for special interests to feather their nests and for the government itself to expand its powers at the expense of the public’s wealth and civil liberties.
Resurgence of the Warfare State is Robert Higgs’s real-time analysis of the U.S. government’s tragic but predictable response: the quick enactment of the USA PATRIOT Act, the federal takeover of airport security, the massive increase in defense and other government spending, and the carnage in Afghanistan and Iraq wrought by leaders unaccountable for their costly and deadly mistakes.
Governmental responses to crises have been—and will likely continue to be—a bonanza for political, corporate, and even religious opportunists who seek power and ?nancial gain by exploiting the fears of the American public.
Product Details
- Publisher: Independent Institute (October 28, 2005)
- Length: 274 pages
- ISBN13: 9781598130942
Browse Related Books
Raves and Reviews
"In his very powerful and incisive book, Resurgence of the Warfare State, Robert Higgs is a prophet who deserves honor—and more importantly, urgent attention. The earliest pieces in this book, written a year and more before the onset of the Iraq War, prove uncannily accurate in their predictions of the terrible course of events. They demonstrate that his passionate warnings in the book’s more recent essays demand to be taken with the utmost seriousness. This book is well worth reading for anyone seeking a more peaceful, safer and freer world."
– DANIEL ELLSBERG, author, Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers
"Robert Higgs's Resurgence of the Warfare State strikes a telling blow for liberty and merits a thunderous welcome by Americans. Laying bare the post-9/11 vacuity of the bipartisan cant and moral cowardice of the Executive Branch and Congress, Higgs deftly shows that while these paragons of demagoguery and self-interest shout patriotic bromides about protecting freedom, they are quietly curtailing civil liberties, making the U.S. economy ever more dependent on arms makers, and waging offensive wars which are constitutionally unconscionable. Nowhere is the probably fatal distance between the Founders’ design for America and the Federal Government’s lethal bastardization of it more ably and clearly presented than in this book."
– MICHAEL F. SCHEUER, former CIA Senior Counter-terrorism Analyst; author, Imperial Hubris
"I have devoured Resurgence of the Warfare State. It is brilliant and courageous; and I loved it."
– JUDGE ANDREW P. NAPOLITANO, Senior Judicial Analyst, Fox News
"Anyone concerned with the disaster produced by the ‘war on terror’ should ?rst read Robert Higgs's cogent new book, Resurgence of the Warfare State. He completely covers all aspects of the catastrophe."
– THOMAS GALE MOORE, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution; former Member of the Council of Economic Advisors for President Ronald Reagan
"Resurgence of the Warfare State is intellectually stimulating, and—whether you agree with its tenets or not—you will be challenged by Higgs's meticulous research and compelling logic. When you finish the book you will be reminded, as I was, of Marc Antony’s call: 'Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the dogs of war.'"
– FEDERAL LAWYER
Resources and Downloads
High Resolution Images
-
Book Cover Image (jpg): Resurgence of the Warfare State
eBook 9781598130942
Resurgence of the Warfare State
The Crisis Since 9/11
Part of The Essential Robert Higgs
By Robert Higgs
Published by Independent Institute
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
Join our mailing list!
By clicking 'Sign me up' I acknowledge that I have read and agree to the privacy policy and terms of use.
