Who Will Fight the Next War?: The Changing Face of the
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Binkin, Martin, PUBLISHER: Brookings Institution Press, ong>ong>Theong>ong> Persian Gulf conflict was ong>ong>theong>ong> first major combat test for U.S. military forces since ong>ong>theong>ong> nation ended conscription two decades ago. As hundreds of thousands of American troops were dispatched to ong>ong>theong>ong> Middle East, ong>ong>theong>ong> nation realized, seemingly for ong>ong>theong>ong> first time, that ong>ong>theong>ong> composition of its armed forces was far removed from any that ong>ong>theong>ong> nation had previously sent to ong>warong>. ong>ong>Theong>ong> deployment of unprecedented proportions of minorities and women and ong>ong>theong>ong> prominent role of reserves and national guard troops aroused considerable interest, widespread debate, and some worry. ong>ong>Theong>ong> prospect that African Americans could bear a disproportionate share of military casualties generated a socially diverse debate that threatened to reopen old racial scars; ong>ong>theong>ong> reality that American women were exposed to perils from which, by long and deep tradition, ong>ong>theong>ong>y had previously been shielded inspired calls for ong>ong>theong>ong>m to be admitted to combat specialties; and controversy surrounding ong>ong>theong>ong> readiness of ong>ong>theong>ong> Army's combat reserves led to an internecine struggle over ong>ong>theong>ong> future shape of ong>ong>theong>ong> U.S. Army. In this book, Martin Binkin addresses each of ong>ong>theong>ong>se issues in order to provide a better understanding of ong>ong>theong>ong> composition of America's fighting forces, to prompt an assessment of attitudes toong>warong>d who should fight in future ong>warong>s, and to delineate ong>ong>theong>ong> choices for influencing ong>ong>theong>ong> social distribution of peril. Binkin argues that ong>ong>theong>ong> time for public involvement is now, while ong>ong>theong>ong> memories of ong>ong>theong>ong> Persian Gulf conflict are still reasonably fresh and while a fundamental rethinking of ong>ong>theong>ong> post-cold ong>warong> military is under way.