Militarism

Background

Militarism is the belief or the desire of a government or a people that a country should maintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests. Examples of militarist states include North Korea, Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, as well as most Imperial states including the United States of America. It may also imply the glorification of the military and of the ideals of a professional military class and the predominance of the armed forces in the administration or policy of the state. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, political and military leaders reformed the U.S. federal government to establish a stronger central government than had ever previously existed for the purpose of enabling the nation to pursue an imperial policy in the Pacific and in the Caribbean, and economic militarism to support the development of the new industrial economy.

The Cold War resulted in serious, permanent military buildups. Dwight D. Eisenhower, a retired top military commander elected as a civilian President, warned, as he was leaving office, of the development of a military-industrial complex. In the Cold War, there emerged many civilian academics and industrial researchers, such as Henry Kissinger and Herman Kahn, who had significant input into the use of military force.

The direct Military budget of the United States for 2008 was $740,800,000,000, but total military-related spending on a yearly basis including costs accrued from previous wars was estimated to be $1,300,000,000,000 for the 2015 budget. Arguably, intelligence gathering can also be considered a war-related expense which would enlarge the portion of the Federal budget spent on war further. By some estimates 50 percent or more of the United States Federal budget is war-related.

Ending RIMPAC, feeling peace
  • Essay

Reflections on trans-Pacific peace efforts in the midst of the largest military war-games exercise in Oceania. Read More »

Sam Ikehara
Calling for an end to RIMPAC war games
  • Verbatim

A coalition of demilitarization and decolonization activist groups has written an open letter to the U.S. and Hawaiʻi state governments calling for an end to the annual Pacific military exercises known as RIMPAC which, the group argues, perpetuates violence and domination across multiple levels of global society. Read More »

Kelsey Amos
“Why are there no evacuation plans for us?”
  • News Report

Hawaiʻi residents will hold public forum to discuss plans to prevent a nuclear holocaust in Hawaiʻi as the Trump Administration "gears up for imminent war with North Korea." Read More »

Women activists visit Hawaiʻi Island, draw connections between militarized Pacific places
  • News Report

Pōhakuloa, like other important places across the Asia-Pacific region, is home to a military base with live fire training. Read More »

#MissileAlert could mean federal control over states’ alert systems
  • News Report

But does the move miss the point when it comes to keeping Hawai‘i free from the threat of nuclear attack? Read More »

Will Caron
Nuclear Wake Up Call
  • Essay

Flawed interface design can be easily fixed: The real missile mistake is militarism. Read More »

Will Caron
The $700 billion military spending package could pay for tuition-free college with room to spare
  • Analysis

127 Democrats, including Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, backed the proposed National Defense Authorization Act of 2018. Read More »

Will Caron
Battleship Guam
  • Essay

U.S. militarism has turned islands into targets and peoples into weapons: Only a movement for peace will save the Pacific. Read More »

Craig Santos Perez
Noted Filipino scholar to discuss Marcos Diaries at East-West Center
  • Announcement

Historian Ambeth Ocampo will present an assessment of personal diaries left behind by Ferdinand Marcos and his family when they fled the Philippines Read More »

Rather than keep us safe, U.S. militarism puts Hawaiʻi in the crosshairs
  • Opinion

The very security forces stationed here, ostensibly, to protect Hawaiʻi from potential aggression across the dateline are, in fact, the reason we are still a target for nuclear strike. Read More »

Aloha to Dana Rae Park, Hawaiʻi’s Musical Warrior of Peace
  • Essay

Services for Dana Rae Park will be held this Saturday, March 4, 2017, 1:30-4 pm at the Atherton YMCA (formerly YWCA) Auditorium, 1820 University Avenue, Honolulu Hawaiʻi, 96822. Call (808) 256-6637 for more information. Read More »

Laulani Teale
‘Typhoon of Steel’ remembered at Kalihi arts festival →
  • Feature
Samson Kaala Reiny
Army ready to green light Armored Security Vehicles in Hawai’i
  • News Report
Travis Quezon
Both the Maverick and the Candidate for Change cling to interventionist foreign policy
  • Opinion
Niki Akhavan
Marshall Islands nuclear survivors speak
  • Verbatim
Ikaika M Hussey
Army says Strykers to be based in Hawaii, Akaka is ‘pleased’
  • News Report
Ikaika M Hussey
War and everyday violence
  • Discussion
M.T. Kato