ABSTRACT
The author discusses the sources that he/she have used, the method of analysis, and his/her reflections on doing research on the military and what make it unique. The author background in thinking differently about money lent itself well to an analysis of the ways that money is being weaponized and the military is becoming monetized. Policies around national secrecy, however, pose enormous challenges to researchers; perhaps especially those who wish to research the military, as its actions are regularly construed as matters of national security. In the early decades of the twenty-first century, militaries around the world are rising in importance in response to new geopolitical fractures. Canada has played a significant military role in Afghanistan and Syria, and more surreptitiously has provided support to the invasion of Iraq. While the US Army did make documents available when requested, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) had to file a lawsuit with the Defense Department to ensure compliance.
