Creative Destruction? What Happens When the Military Leaves
The Robert S. Strauss Center for International Law and Security welcomed Dr. Christopher Preble on Tuesday, November 19th to discuss the impact that military spending can have on local communities that host military facilities as well as the wider economy. Dr. Preble was introduced by Strauss Center Distinguished Scholar Dr. Eugene Gholz, and his talk, “Creative Destruction? What Happens When the Military Leaves,” concluded the Fall 2013 International Security Speakers Series.
In his talk, Dr. Preble attempted to push back against the assumption that military spending is always beneficial to the broader economy and that any cuts in military spending are harmful. Instead, Dr. Preble noted that while questions about balancing the allocation of resources are part of a legitimate debate, many involved in this debate tend to focus on the benefits of military spending while ignoring the costs it can have for the wider economy. Dr. Preble pointed out that in conducting research into how the closure of military facilities impacts local communities, there have been several instances in which the departure of the military has yielded positive consequences, including the closure of Austin Bergstrom Air Force Base, now an international airport.
Dr. Preble explained that his interest in this issue was born out of recent public debates over military spending cuts and concerns regarding the potential impact of the sequester. He notes that in the past, the economy has managed to “survive and thrive” in times of reduced military spending, and that in the current climate attention should be paid not just to assumed benefits of military spending, but to cost of diverting resources away from the civilian economy.
Preble’s remarks in full can be found below:
Prior to his talk, Preble spoke to us regarding his research in more-depth:
Christopher A. Preble is the vice president for defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute. He is the author of three books including The Power Problem: How American Military Dominance Makes Us Less Safe, Less Prosperous and Less Free (Cornell University Press, 2009), which documents the enormous costs of America’s military power, and proposes a new grand strategy to advance U.S. security; and John F. Kennedy and the Missile Gap (Northern Illinois University Press, 2004), which explores the political economy of military spending during the 1950s and early 1960s. Preble is also the lead author of Exiting Iraq: How the U.S. Must End the Occupation and Renew the War against Al Qaeda (Cato Institute, 2004); and he co-edited, with Jim Harper and Benjamin Friedman, Terrorizing Ourselves: Why U.S. Counterterrorism Policy Is Failing and How to Fix It (Cato Institute, 2010). In addition to his books, Preble has published over 150 articles in major publications including USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, the Financial Times, National Review, The National Interest, the Harvard International Review, and Foreign Policy. He is a frequent guest on television and radio. Before joining Cato in February 2003, he taught history at St. Cloud State University and Temple University. Preble was a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy, and served onboard USS Ticonderoga (CG-47) from 1990 to 1993. Preble holds a Ph.D. in history from Temple University.