ABSTRACT
War has become an increasingly common tool of US national policy. Rather than Congressionally declared states of war periodically punctuating otherwise harmonious periods of peace, military conflict has become a condition of modern life. Now the National Security Strategy of the United States has formalized the case for pre-emptive unilateral military action, a policy of great significance for international relations. This plan, advocated for years by neo-conservatives who ascended to key positions in the latest Bush administration, was put into practice most recently in Afghanistan and Iraq, and even contemplated with respect to Iran and Syria. Advocating overwhelming US world military superiority to prevent the emergence of rivals follows in line with other administration steps away from multilateral international agreements on arms control, the environment, and other issues. This unilateralism of military force is rationalized by its architects as “power that can be trusted” (e.g., Armstrong 2002). Although anti-war voices have been at work, American military action has taken place largely against a backdrop of public support, or at least acquiescence. To understand how this support is developed and sustained we look to the relationships among the military, state, and media.
