Managing the Military - by Sharon K Weiner (Paperback)

About the Book

Managing the Military is a pioneering analysis of the power of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that sheds new light on civil-military relations in the United States. Using detailed case studies of debates over defense budgets, Sharon K. Weiner examines when and how the JCS chairman opposes civilian defense policy preferences.

Book Synopsis

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS)--a senior group of officers who lead the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps--is perhaps the most influential military figure in the United States. The chairman is the primary military advisor to the president and is often the public face of the armed forces. As advocates for the military's priorities, some chairmen have used this role to help shape policy, but others have embraced the position as an opportunity to chart new policy directions or challenge presidential preferences.

Managing the Military is a pioneering analysis of the power of the chairman of the JCS that sheds new light on civil-military relations in the United States. Using detailed case studies of debates over defense budgets since the end of the Cold War, Sharon K. Weiner examines when and how the JCS chairman opposes civilian defense policy preferences. She shows that, under the right conditions, the chairman can be a policy entrepreneur, challenging the goals of the White House and lobbying for the military's interests. However, the extent of the chairman's political clout is constrained by the preferences of the service chiefs who head the branches of the military. Weiner also explores the evolution of the institution of the JCS and illuminates the chairman's interaction with the president and secretary of defense. Blending empirical detail and theoretical contributions, Managing the Military offers a compelling account of the circumstances under which the power of the JCS chairman is maximized.

Review Quotes

This book will be of immense appeal to scholars and policy-makers worried about the growing politicization of the armed forces and the erosion of civilian control. While there is excellent work being produced on the societal roots of these trends, Weiner's compelling account sheds invaluable light on the institutional side of the same coin.-- "International Affairs"

A superb look at the power of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs in the modern era, including the much-overlooked role service chiefs play in constraining the chairman. Sharon K. Weiner challenges some of the conventional wisdom on the legacy of Goldwater-Nichols in this must-read for defense officials and elected leaders alike.--Heidi A. Urben, author of Party, Politics, and the Post-9/11 Army

In this remarkable book, Weiner provides a splendid study of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the political power that he wields. This is an excellent contribution to the study of U.S. civil-military relations.--Mackubin Thomas Owens, author of U.S. Civil-Military Relations After 9/11: Renegotiating the Civil-Military Bargain

Sharon Weiner's Managing the Military carefully and thoughtfully traces the development of a key actor in the making of U.S. national security policy--the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Replete with illustrations of the politics endemic to civil-military relations in the United States, this book is sure to attract significant interest from scholars and practitioners alike.--Risa Brooks, author of Shaping Strategy: The Civil-Military Politics of Strategic Assessment

This innovative book reveals the evolution of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that has allowed the chairman to accrue more control and argues that such an alteration could possibly turn civil-military relations on its head, with the chairman leading on policy matters and civilians deferring for both structural and political reasons.--William A. Taylor, author of Military Service and American Democracy: From World War II to the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars

About the Author

Sharon K. Weiner is an associate professor at the School of International Service at American University. She is the author of Our Own Worst Enemy? Institutional Interests and the Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Expertise (2011). Weiner has also worked for the National Security Division of the White House Office of Management and Budget and the Joint Staff's Strategic Plans and Policy directorate, among other governmental roles.