America Invulnerable: The Quest for Absolute Security from 1812 to Star Wars

One tends to think of ""national security'' as a modern concern but, as Chace and Carr point out in this major study, American presidents have pursued it obsessively since the early days of the Republic. The authors demonstrate that this quest has brought with it a strong disposition to respond militarily to threats that more often are perceived than actual. This has led U.S. forces to increasingly remote regions until, at last, our two-century search for perfect safety intrudes on outer space itself. In their lucid concluding chapter on the origin, development and probable difficulties and dangers of SDI, the authors warn that perfect security in an imperfect world is a deceitful dream, that meaningful progress toward world peace is unlikely as long as that dream is held up to the American public as an attainable goal. Chace was formerly managing editor of Foreign Affairs, and Carr was formerly on the staff of the Council of Foreign Relations. (March)