ABSTRACT
"The military institutions of any society," in the opening words of The Soldier and the State, are shaped by two forces: a functional imperative stemming from the threats to the society's security and a societal imperative arising from the social forces, ideologies, and institutions dominant within the society. Military institutions which reflect only social values may be incapable of performing effectively their military function. The interaction between societal and functional imperatives manifests itself in a variety of ways. Of central importance, however, is the relationship between the military officer corps and the political institutions and leadership. National security was a product of geographical location and of European politics, over neither of which the United States could exercise much control. National security was, in a sense, the starting point of policy, the assumption upon which policy was based rather than its product.
