The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, humanitarian relief operations in Southeast Asia, Pakistan and Louisiana have catapulted the military onto front pages and TV reports everywhere and every day. While the military's unique mission is to defend freedom by "fighting and winning the nation's wars," it has increasingly been charged with non-warfighting and foreign policy responsibilities. Because the military has been so active in so many places and with such a variety of missions, "Inside Defense" brings together scholars, policy experts and practitioners to provide a comprehensive view of the U.S. military to understand the military's role in international politics and its relationship with domestic institutions and society.

This book provides a basic guide to the US military and will raise questions for further discussion by students and other curious readers.

The US Military provides an accessible starting-point for those with a limited knowledge of this institution. Covering a wide range of subject matter, and ending with an extensive list of suggested resources to aid individual study and research, the text is divided into the following chapters:

• The A, B, Cs
• Strategy and Doctrine
• The Military in Action
• Weapons and Capabilities
• The Budget

This book will be of great interest to students of the US military, US politics, defense studies, and war and conflict studies, and will also be of relevance to journalists, NGO staff and diplomats.

This book aims to provide a basic guide to the US military and will raise questions for further discussion by students. The US spends as much on its military as all other nations the world combined; even in a severe recession, the military budget has been sacrosanct. The US military can reach into the most remote areas of the globe and kill its enemies from long distances with impunity. It is not a citizen military, but a military of senior professionals who command young volunteers many of them attracted by rewards unavailable to them in civilian life, such as an education. Both are supported by large numbers of contractors working for profit. While political scientists study the legislature, the presidency, the courts, public opinion, voting, campaigns, state and local government, only rarely do they refer to government's defining institutions, those that exercise legitimate force, i.e., the police and more especially, the military. Prof. Michael Walzer asserts that in a democracy citizens are responsible for the kind of military they have and how and where it is used. Nevertheless, few political science students have much knowledge on the military. This book will be of much interest to students of the US military, US politics, US defense, and military studies in general.

Only sixteen women have won the Nobel Prize for Peace since it was first awarded in 1901. Hailing from all over the world, some of these women have held graduate degrees, while others barely had access to education. Some began their work young, some late in life. In this compelling book, Judith Stiehm narrates these women's varied lives in fascinating detail. The third edition includes the story of Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, the youngest laureate, who won as a teenager in 2014. Her campaign for girls' education continued in spite of a vicious attack by the Taliban. Engaged and inspirational, all these women clearly demonstrate that there is something each of us can do to advance a just, positive peace. Whether they began by insisting on garbage collection or simply by planting a tree, each understood that peace must be global in order to be sustained. All learned that peace is not always popular, but believed they must persevere. They shared a common vision and commitment undiminished by obstacles and opposition. As Judith Stiehm convincingly shows, all are truly "champions for peace."

'Inside Defense' brings together scholars, policy experts and practitioners to provide a comprehensive view of the U.S. military to understand the military's role in international politics and its relationship with domestic institutions and society.

In this first full biography of former United States attorney general Janet Reno (1938-2016), Judith Hicks Stiehm describes the independent and unconventional life of a woman who grew up in a rural South Florida homestead and rose to occupy one of the top positions in the United States government, whose ethics and example served as inspiration for women in law and politics across the nation. In telling Janet Reno’s story, Stiehm incorporates personal details from her full and exclusive access to family papers and photos, as well as inside information from Reno’s own materials and interviews with over 40 of Reno’s personal and professional acquaintances. Stiehm begins by tracing Reno’s free-range childhood, her college years at Cornell and experience at Harvard Law School as one of 16 women in a class of over 500, the challenges she faced as a woman lawyer launching her career in 1960s Miami, and her 15 years as Miami-Dade state attorney. In 1993, Reno was appointed to serve in Washington as United States attorney general in the Clinton administration, the first woman to occupy the position in the history of the nation. Stiehm tells how Reno engaged with the East Coast elite as an outsider, seen by many as outspoken and eccentric—yet scrupulous, uncompromising, and immune to influence. Stiehm explores the reasons behind Reno’s decisions in cases she handled during her tenure, including the siege of the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas; Kenneth Starr’s Whitewater investigation; the Oklahoma City bombing; and the Elián González controversy. Janet Reno’s life was an illustration to many that it is possible to hold high office while consistently speaking and acting on principle. This biography examines the guiding forces that shaped Reno’s character, the trails blazed by Reno in her professional roles, and the lasting influence of Reno on American politics and society to this day.

Only sixteen women have won the Nobel Prize for Peace since it was first awarded in 1901. Hailing from all over the world, some of these women have held graduate degrees, while others barely had access to education. Some began their work young, some late in life. In this compelling book, Judith Stiehm narrates these women's varied lives in fascinating detail. The third edition includes the story of Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, the youngest laureate, who won as a teenager in 2014. Her campaign for girls' education continued in spite of a vicious attack by the Taliban. Engaged and inspirational, all these women clearly demonstrate that there is something each of us can do to advance a just, positive peace. Whether they began by insisting on garbage collection or simply by planting a tree, each understood that peace must be global in order to be sustained. All learned that peace is not always popular, but believed they must persevere. They shared a common vision and commitment undiminished by obstacles and opposition. As Judith Stiehm convincingly shows, all are truly "champions for peace."