Historical Dimensions of National Security Problems

This book provides historical perspectives on general problems in national security policy that have recurred through history. In eight original essays prepared expressly for this volume, a group of political scientists and historians demonstrates that the study of historical experience can greatly benefit the study of national security problems in the contemporary world.

The plan for this volume was generated by widespread concern over the neglect of history in the study and teaching of national security and related problems in international relations. The student chronically thinks that everything he sees is happening for the first time; the experience of past societies in dealing with similar problems goes unnoticed.

The authors are evenly divided between historians and political scientists. They exhibit diverse ways of bringing historical knowledge to bear on contemporary issues. Taken together, their essays exemplify how historical study can enrich the social sciences.

This volume can be used in any course dealing with the wide range of issues and processes at work in national security affairs. It is hoped that, by demonstrating the pertinence of serious study of historical experience in order to comprehend the present, it will help to bring about an end to the neglect of history in national security education.

Klaus Knorr is William Stewart Todd Professor of Public Affairs, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University, and coeditor of Economic Issues and National Security.

Contributors: Klaus Knorr, Allan R. Millett, William B. Moreland, Russell F. Weigley, Peter Karsten, Charles H. Fairbanks, Paul W. Schroeder, Bernard Brodie, Thomas L. Pangle