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"While the major conflicts in American history have become all too familiar, America's "small wars" have played an essential but little-appreciated role in the country's growth as a world power. First published in 2002, The Savage Wars of Peace quickly became a key volume in the case for a new policy of interventionism. Max Boot shows how America's smaller actions--such as the recent conflicts in Bosnia, Somalia, Haiti, Kosovo, and Afghanistan--have made up the vast majority of our military engagements, and yet our armed forces do little to prepare for these "low intensity conflicts." A compellingly readable history of the forgotten wars that helped promote America's rise in the last two centuries, The Savage Wars of Peace is now updated with new material on the repercussions of America's far-flung imperial actions and the impact of these ventures in American international affairs"--Amazon.com, viewed April 3, 2014

Sail and shot : the Spanish Armada, July 31-August 9, 1588 Missile and muscle : Breitenfeld and Lützen, September 17, 1631-November 16, 1632 Flintlocks and forbearance : Assaye, September 23, 1803 Rifles and railroads : Königgrätz, July 3, 1866 Maxim guns and dum dums : Omdurman, September 2, 1898 Steel and steam : Tsushima, May 27-28, 1905 Tanks and terror : France, May 10-June 22, 1940 Flattops and torpedoes : Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941 Superfortresses and firebombs : Tokyo, March 9-10, 1945 Professionalism and precision : Kuwait and Iraq, January 17-February 28, 1991 Special forces and horses : Afghanistan, October 7-December 6, 2001 Humvees and I.E.D.s : Iraq, March 20, 2003-May 1, 2005

On February 24, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel walked into the Pentagon briefing room to deliver a speech unveiling the defense budget of the US for the coming fiscal year. The proposed defense budget for 2015 will consume only 3.4% of the nation's Gross Domestic Product -- down from 4.7% in 2011. This figure is projected to continue declining to a mere 2.3% of GDP by 2024, which would be the lowest level since 1940. Army leadership has stated that a force of 28 active-duty BCTs and 24 Guard BCTs, which would require an active-duty end-strength of 450,000 personnel, is the smallest acceptable force to implement the defense strategy mandated by the nation's political leadership in documents such as the Quadrennial Defense Review. The US Navy is already down to a battle force of 289, of which only 104 are deployed at any one time to cover the entire world. Adapted from the source document.

It is hard to imagine the War on Terror having been waged without four-star commanders such as David Petraeus, Stanley McChrystal, John Allen, and James Mattis. They are among the most illustrious generals produced by the last decade of fighting. Of the four, Petraeus was first among equals, the dominant general of his generation. McChrystal effectively worked for Petraeus in Iraq after the latter took over the war effort there in 2007. Allen did work for him as deputy commander at Central Command, the operational headquarters for US military efforts in the Middle East. Petraeus, McChrystal, Allen, and Mattis would be the first to deny that they are irreplaceable-the graveyards, they would no doubt remind people, are said to be full of irreplaceable men. And clearly there are a number of capable officers who will strive to fill their combat boots. But the experience and savvy of the four will be hard to replace. Adapted from the source document.