Table Of Contenti
SIX STOPS ON THE NATIONAL
SECURITY TOUR
The U.S. military economy incorporates hundreds of American communities.
This is the first book to connect our national security apparatus to the local level
via deeply reported portraits of six carefully selected locations, including military
Meccas and out-o f- the- way places. They are woven into the warfare economy by
bases, nuclear weapons labs, and production sites. The book includes an invaluable
overview of how the military is structured, how its budget is made, and what
it costs. It also shows how the military economy perpetuates itself. In on- the-
ground reporting, Pemberton traces the lines of connection between the tour
stops presented here and our country’s foreign policy, industrial policy, and budget
priorities. She examines the meaning of national security in the current moment,
as climate change becomes what the military itself calls “an urgent and growing
threat.” And she dramatically demonstrates how redirecting our militarized foreign
and industrial policy toward climate security can help these communities become
part of the solution. For students, scholars, public servants, and all concerned
citizens, this book is essential reading.
Miriam Pemberton has studied the U.S. military economy and the means of
shrinking it down to size for decades, first as Director of the National Commission
for Economic Conversion and Disarmament and then as a Research Fellow
at the Institute for Policy Studies. With Lawrence Korb, she headed the task force
that for a decade produced the annual “Unified Security Budget of the United
States.” With William Hartung she edited Lessons from Iraq: Avoiding the Next War
(Paradigm, 2008). She headed up the team that produced three successive versions
of “Military vs. Climate Security: The Budgets Compared.” Pemberton holds a
PhD from the University of Michigan.
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Praise for Six Stops on the National Security Tour
“Miriam Pemberton has written the definitive contemporary account of the
cultural and economic behemoth that is ‘National Security.’ These ‘two most
powerful words in the language of U.S. policy’ have produced a domestic
landscape swathed in military contracting companies, military bases, surveil-
lance systems, and nuclear missile labs and silos. Through firsthand visits to six
locations around the country, Pemberton uses her deep expertise and vivid
writing to examine this terrain and suggest another way is not just possible but
existentially and immediately necessary.”
Catherine Lutz, Thomas J. Watson, Jr. Professor Emerita of
Anthropology and International Studies, Brown University,
and Co- Director, Costs of War
“This lively, most unusual tour of the United States covers something
guidebooks don’t. Pemberton shows how our vast military budget has affected
communities across the nation, often leaving toxic waste or distorted local
economies in its wake. But there are seeds of hope: examples of what we can
accomplish using talent and energy to produce what the world desperately
needs instead of a river of useless weaponry.”
Adam Hochschild, author of King Leopold’s Ghost,
Bury the Chains, and To End All Wars, among other books
“With great force and compelling detail, Pemberton describes how our
political elite— Democrats and Republicans alike— are fiddling while the
planet burns. She documents how the Pentagon leadership itself recognizes
the climate crisis as our greatest national security threat, yet Congress and
the President keep shoveling over $700 billion per year into useless weapons
and military outposts. Pemberton arms us with the tools to stop this madness
before it is too late. This is an outstanding, and hugely important, book.”
Robert Pollin, Distinguished Professor of Economics,
University of Massachusetts Amherst
“This ‘Tour’ is a gift. Drawing on unparalleled expertise developed over
decades, Pemberton surveys the Military Industrial Complex and its impact
on the economy, politics, and everyday life of the United States. Importantly,
Pemberton also shows where we must go in what she rightly calls the ‘fight for
our lives’ to move hundreds of billions of dollars from this Complex to build
a green economy and save our warming planet.”
David Vine, Professor of Anthropology, American University
“A troubling but fascinating travelogue—s hows how military spending distorts
local economies and distracts the country from its genuine security challenges.
Highly recommended.”
Michael Klare, Former Director, Five College Program in
Peace and World Security Studies
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SIX STOPS ON THE
NATIONAL SECURITY
TOUR
Rethinking Warfare Economies
Miriam Pemberton
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Cover image: © Getty Images
First published 2023
by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
and by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Taylor & Francis
The right of Miriam Pemberton to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
A catalog record for this title has been requested
ISBN: 978- 1- 032- 27684- 7 (hbk)
ISBN: 978- 0- 367- 25767- 5 (pbk)
ISBN: 978- 1- 003- 29370- 5 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/ 9781003293705
Typeset in Bembo
by Newgen Publishing UK
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For my family, most of all
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vii
CONTENTS
List of Figures ix
Acknowledgments x
Introduction 1
1 Overview in Brief 8
2 Connecticut: A Choice Visible on Two Sides of a River 25
3 Johnstown, PA: From Coal to the King of Pork 47
4 Southern California: Green Capital of the World or
Aerospace Central? 72
5 Pine Bluff: Foreign Policy Comes Home to Arkansas 100
6 Los Alamos, NM: Weathering a Midlife Crisis 120
7 New Frontiers for Militarism 151
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viii Contents
8 Greater Binghamton, NY: Swords into Plowshares 175
9 Conclusion 198
Appendix 214
Index 215
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ix
FIGURES
1.1 The Pentagon budget 1948– 2020, in billions of 2021 USD 15
2.1 A Virginia- class submarine heading down the river past New London 30
2.2 John Harrity with his “personal hero,” John L. Lewis, at the 2004
Machinists Convention in Cincinnati 39
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2.3 Artist Jennifer Gottlieb’s rendering of the new pier with offshore
wind components on their way out to sea 43
3.1 Johnstown, Pennsylvania 49
3.2 Congressman Murtha testifying before the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee on the Iraq War 51
3.3 Gautier Works steel mill, now mostly vacant 59
4.1 Don Nakamoto 75
4.2 The tail end of a plane on display outside Plant 42 in Palmdale 87
4.3 Kinkisharyo at Plant 42 92
5.1 View from upstairs at the National Center for Toxicological
Research 101
5.2 John Mitchell 105
5.3 “Mission Complete” 108
6.1 Up above Los Alamos 121
6.2 Minesh Bacrani 127
6.3 Joseph Maestas 132
7.1 Drone at the border 156
7.2 Air Force testing new hypersonic weapon 159
8.1 Bob Devine in front of a HybriDrive bus bound for San Francisco 183
8.2 BAE in the old IBM building 192
9.1 Percentage of U.S. population living at or below poverty level 201
