Containing the National Security State represents more than 100 editorials that assess the militarization of U.S. governance and U.S. foreign policy. These articles describe the bloated defense spending of the United States; the billions of dollars wasted on fool’s errands abroad; the unnecessary modernization of U.S. nuclear weapons; and the intense operational tempo of the military that is leaving our domestic priorities without adequate resources. President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s warning about the “military-industrial-congressional complex” has never been more frightening. These editorials suggest what is needed to be done to reverse the damage of the past 20 years.

Will President Trump destroy civilization or win the Nobel Peace Prize? Humankind’s survival feels like a jump ball that could go either way. We are perched on a precipice, and the reason we are looking into an abyss of nuclear annihilation is that the American president has unencumbered, unilateral control over the nuclear codes.