Merchants of Death

Fifty-five years ago, in 1961, president Dwight D. Eisenhower warned for a Military-industrial Complex in his Farewell Address to the nation. Eisenhower’s Farewell Address is among the most memorable presidential Farewell Addresses of all time, because of this warning. The MiC was a complex that nobody had ever heard of before, but since that day it became a very popular topic in public debate, because according to Eisenhower the MiC would affect most private and public institutions in the American society. So eventually, every citizen would need to deal with the consequences. He warned the American people for not letting the relationship between an unlimited wartime economy and the ‘Cold War’ political environment dictate America’s actions at home or abroad. Eisenhower stated that such unchecked power would only infringe the inherent freedoms of the American citizens. He was afraid that this new Military-industrial Complex could weaken or destroy the very institutions and principles it was designed to protect. In the past fifty years, America’s foreign policy has changed significantly. This makes it very interesting to look back again on Eisenhower’s exact message and question whether the warning for the unwarranted influence of the Military-industrial Complex is still applicable today. This so-called MiC emerged out of three observations made by Eisenhower’s speechwriter Malcolm Moos: the abundance of defense contractors, the large amount of defense professionals, and the domination of scientific research. These three pillars still exist today and have only grown larger and have become more influential. Eisenhower argued that this influence of the MiC is threefold: economic, spiritual and political. Today, the MiC still has an influence on the US’ economy, by which it destabilizes the nation. Also the spiritual influence is very present today. This can be seen in the militarization of the American culture. Also the MiC’s political influence still exists today on a large scale. PR firms and lobbyists are used by the defense industry to gain political influence with the goal to obtain large contracts. Eisenhower mentioned in his Farewell address that this influence would be felt everywhere. He warned that the influence sphere of the MiC on the entire society is very dangerous and could only be countered by balancing its forces. This thesis will show that the MiC’s forces are not being balanced today and that there is a lack of great statesmanship and a lack of alert and knowledgeable citizens. Because of that, the Military-industrial Complex is now deeply embedded in American politics, academia, industry, and civil society.