How Everything Became War
Event
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Once, war was a temporary state
of affairs—a violent but brief interlude between times of peace. Today,
America’s wars are everywhere and forever: our enemies change constantly and
rarely wear uniforms, and virtually anything can become a weapon. As war expands,
so does the role of the US military. Today, military personnel don’t just “kill
people and break stuff.” Instead, they analyze computer code, train Afghan
judges, build Ebola isolation wards, eavesdrop on electronic communications,
develop soap operas, and patrol for pirates. You name it, the military does it.
In her new book, How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything, Rosa Brooks traces this seismic shift
in how America wages war and its consequences.
Rosa Brooks is a senior
fellow at New America and part of New America and Arizona State University’s Future
of War project. A professor at Georgetown University Law Center, Ms. Brooks
served as Counselor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and as Special
Coordinator for Rule of Law and Humanitarian Policy in the Pentagon from
2009-2011. During the Clinton Administration, she also served as a senior
advisor at the US Department of State. Ms. Brooks spent four years as an
opinion columnist for The Los Angeles Times, and currently writes a weekly
column for Foreign Policy. She is a frequent contributor to other print and TV
media outlets as well. Brooks received her A.B. from Harvard, a master's degree
from Oxford, and a J.D. from Yale Law School.
New America and Defense One are pleased to welcome Ms. Brooks for a discussion of her book and how the expanding definition of war is changing our society.
Follow the discussion online using #FutureofWar and following @NewAmericaISP.
Copies of the book will be available for purchase.
Participant:
Rosa Brooks @brooks_rosaSenior Fellow, New America International Security Program
Author, How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything
Moderator:
Peter Bergen @peterbergencnnDirector, New America International Security Program