ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores how the way men think about social problems influences the kinds of policies they recommend. It shows that unexamined models of international conflict, whether one believes the problem to be appeasement of aggressors or avoidance of the deadly cycle of misunderstanding among nations, are of critical importance in determining how decision-makers fix their stands on defense matters. The book describes the basic political values that underlie apparently neutral efficiency concerns in cost-benefit analysis, systems analysis, and program budgeting. It employs an approach one would use in trying to understand a tribe whose customs were strange and whose activities sometimes appeared odd to an outside observer. The book is concerned with the differing conceptions of political activity. It explores how cost-benefit analysis, systems analysis, and program budgeting could be treated as increasing levels of economic imperialism on political subjects.
