1. Introduction: A Primer on the US Military Machine Today's Global Security Environment A Quick Historical Sketch of the American Military The Secretary, the Joint Chiefs, the Services, and the Commands The People and Personnel Policies of the Military Domestic Bases and Places The US Military's Global Reach Conclusion: The American Military Juggernaut 2. Defense Budgeting and Resource Allocation The Big Picture: Broad Definitions and Budget Processes Breakdowns of the US Department of Defense Budget The Acquisition Budget The Wars and the Wartime Supplementals Budgeting by Overseas Region The Economics of Overseas Basing Military Readiness The Main Show: Costs of Individual Combat Units Conclusion: Defense Budgeting and Grand Strategy 3. Gaming and Modeling Combat Wargaming Micromodeling The Lanchester's Equations Modeling Air-Ground Combat Modeling Naval Combat Artillery Barrages against Population Centers Nuclear Exchange Calculations Assessing Counterinsurgency and Stabilization Missions Conclusion: Subconscious versus Conscious Modeling 4. Technological Change and Military Innovation Sensors Computers, Communications, and Robotics Projectiles, Propulsion, and Platforms Other Technologies Conclusion: Might a Revolution in Military Affairs Be in the Offing? 5. Space, Missile Defense, and Nuclear Weapons: Three Case Studies in the Science of War The Military Uses of Space (Ballistic) Missile Defense Nuclear Weapons, Nuclear Testing, and Nuclear Proliferation Conclusion: Security Dilemmas, Wars of Choice, Uncertainty, and the Science of War

Defense policy for a modern superpower cannot be made responsibly without a range of knowledge about the technocratic complexities of budget tradeoffs, technological alternatives, combat simulation, and logistics. This book is the best to illustrate these issues for audiences outside the Pentagon