Part I: The Conceptual Nexus
1. National Security for a New and Changing Era
2. The Concepts and Logic of National Security
Part II: The Historical Context
3. Influences from the Past: The American Historical Experience
4. The Post-1945 Challenge: The Nature and End of the Cold War
5. Moving to the Present: The Post-Cold War World
Part III: Domestic Environment and Change
6. The Domestic Environment
7. Domestic Battlegrounds and National Security
8. "Legacy" Military Problems
Part IV: The Contemporary Environment and Challenges
9. The Structure and Consequences of Modern Violence: Asymmetrical Warfare
10. Residues of 9/11: Terrorism, Afghanistan, and Iraq
11. Lethal Landscapes: The Future Menu
12. The Menu of Activism: Peacekeeping, State Building, Development, and Humanitarian Intervention
Part V: On the Horizon
13. New Dimensions and Approaches to National Security: Borders, Energy and Environment, and Cyber Security
14. Looking Ahead
Biography
Donald M. Snow is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Alabama, where he specialized in international relations, national security, and foreign policy. He has also served as visiting professor at the US Air, Army, and Naval War Colleges and the US Air Command and Staff College.
Praise for National Security
Donald Snow offers a compelling approach to understanding the complexities of US national security. By moving beyond worst-case threat analysis, he grounds foreign policy in American domestic politics to reinvigorate thinking on the future of national security.
Derek S. Reveron, Harvard University
I recommend the new edition of National Security without reservation. It is a readable and informative text, and students find it useful and engaging. In addition, Donald Snow’s use of contemporary as well as historic examples opens the door for many meaningful classroom discussions. I find the text essential in the discussion of the complexities surrounding the study of the politics of US national security issues and list it as required reading every semester.
Matthew Wahlert, Miami University
Dr. Snow has once again delivered a text for its time. Rather than focusing on the institutional aspects of national security, he looks at the real issues of national security in a post–Cold War, post–9/11 world. The strong connection he makes between domestic politics and international threats goes beyond the normal "guns v. butter" debate. I am looking forward to the publication of this book so that I can adopt it for my courses.
Michael Kanner, University of Colorado–Boulder
This book offers readers an excellent introduction to national security. It skillfully combines a clear conceptual framework with thorough applications to both historical and contemporary security challenges. The book carefully guides readers through the abstract logic of interests, power, security and domestic politics, before examining the concrete manifestations of these concepts in the context of US national security from the early days of the nation to the post–9/11 world and the rise of the Islamic State.
Benjamin T. Jones, University of Mississippi
