How to Run Wars

"""Ramp up the threat index to severe! Pursue your Orwellian dream of selling war as peace! In this satirical gem, Coyne and Hall skewer the would-be warmongers among us."" --W. J. Astore, Lt. Col., USAF (Ret.), author, Hindenburg: Icon of German Militarism ""An essential and timely contribution to the debate on U.S. foreign policy. I smiled in recognition as each ridiculous claim was skewered, and often laughed out loud at the droll, straight-faced accuracy of the account. But then, immediately, and as with all great satire, I was brought up short: actually, this is not funny. The views being skewered here are all real. Without the kind of close scrutiny you'll find in How to Run Wars, those destructive and corrosive views will continue to dominate American military doctrine unchallenged."" --Michael C. Munger, professor of political science, Duke University; author, Is Capitalism Sustainable? ""How to Run Wars works by saying the quiet part out loud. Some readers, even in the liberty movement, might interpret the book literally, without realizing that it is a highly skilled pasquinade, pure lampoonery of the national security state's duplicitous dupes and many minions. It's a Babylon Bee for PhDs, a deeply layered onion of dark humor and satirical insight into the destruction of America by the very people charged with protecting it. Be prepared to laugh, and cry."" --Robert E. Wright, lecturer in economics, Central Michigan University ""Proponents of American hegemony argue that global military interventionism is necessary to protect freedom, liberalism, democracy, and a rules-based international order. But what does it take to run a 'liberal empire'? Economists Christopher J. Coyne and Abigail R. Hall have spent years studying the American national security state. In this book, they explain how to succeed as a member of the national security elite. Doing so requires propaganda, mendacity, repression of dissent, gross violations of civil liberties, willingness to sacrifice human lives, and flagrant violations of international law. In other words, liberal empire entails violating the very liberal principles it purports to protect. If you want to understand the ugly truths about militarism, this book is a great place to start."" --Nathan Goodman, senior fellow, F.A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, Mercatus Center, George Mason University ""Coyne and Hall eviscerate the national security elites with merciless satiric wit. These elites want to send your children to war, and they need you misinformed and obedient to get away with it. Don't let them. Read this book. Learn their ways. See the truth. Your children's lives depend on it."" --Roger Koppl, professor of finance, Whitman School of Management, Syracuse University ""Chris Coyne and Abigail Hall have done it again, showing how destructive U.S. foreign policy is. But this time they do it by pretending that they are interventionists teaching other interventionists how to make the case for continuous and widespread intervention. It's often humorous, but it's much more. Their serious point is that this is, unfortunately, how many of the intervenors think. Read, laugh, and learn."" --David R. Henderson, professor emeritus of economics, Naval Postgraduate School; research fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University ""Behind an insightful analysis of the nation's military activities is a dark warning to Americans: here is what the military-industrial complex is doing to us. How to Run Wars explains how we are losing our freedom in the name of freedom."" --Randall G. Holcombe, DeVoe Moore Professor of Economics, Florida State University"