My Account Wish List
Advanced Search
Print - Close Window
www.greenwood.com/catalog/C34843.aspx
All Greenwood Products
The Process and Politics of Defense Acquisition A Reference Handbook
David S. Sorenson
Book Code: C34843
ISBN: 0-313-34843-X
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-34843-3
Praeger Security International Academic Cloth
Publication: 12/30/2008
List Price: $75.00 (UK Sterling Price: £41.95)
Availability: Not yet published. (Estimated publication date, 12/30/2008)
Media Type: Hardcover
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects:
Description: The United States government invests billions each year on equipping armed forces with the most advanced military equipment. The root of the American defense acquisition system is driven by a combination of national interests and domestic political requirements. While fundamentally the defense acquisition system has produced results for the United States military, improvements are needed in order to continue to move forward in advancing military tactics and technology. Exploring both the systemic and political levels of the system, Sorenson argues that the United States will fall behind if the current defense acquisition system is not reformed. This book brings together elements of this complicated system, such as national security requirements, and the changes that are needed in both the structural and political pillars. A combination of political interests and the needs of the military, serviced by an ever-shrinking defense industry, make a genuine acquisition reform even more difficult, resulting in reform that is more symbolic than genuine. The United States military spends hundreds of billions of dollars each year on defense weapons and other items to equip the growing military. These weapons come from a system that is deeply imbedded in complicated and extensively regulated procedures, controlled by a few political actors, along with international arms customers. Since the Cold War, the defense industry has shrunk significantly in production, while increasing a few powerful giant firms that now dominate the defense business. Economic structure of the system and political forces are significant tin reform efforts, creating an inefficient system. No other book explores both the process and political dynamics of the defense acquisition system. Sorenson brings together the primary elements of the defense acquisition process, including the evolution and current structure, along with the political system and actors that influence it. Through analyzing the defense contractors that help supply the industry and the growing international arms markets that now play a significant role, he explains the role that both national interest and domestic political requirements play. Consequences of the system range from criminal activity to much more common problems of inefficiency and ineffectiveness. Sorenson argues that efforts to improve the defense acquisition system are necessary in determining the future outcome of the system.
Table of Contents:
  • Table of Contents
  • Glossary
  • Acronyms
  • Preface
  • Introduction
  • Chapter 1: The Defense Acquisition Process Evolves
  • Chapter 2: The Current American Defense Acquisition Process
  • Chapter 3: The Defense Industrial Base
  • Chapter 4: The Politics of American Weapons Acquisition
  • Chapter 5: International arms sales and Defense Acquisition
  • Chapter 6: Reforming Defense Acquisition
  • Profiles: The Boeing Company Integrated Defense Systems
  • Profiles: General Dynamics Electric Boat Division
  • Profiles: Lockheed-Martin
  • Profiles: Curtiss-Wright
  • Profiles: Raytheon
  • Profiles: Northrop Grumman
  • Profiles: Pratt & Whitney Division of United Technologies
  • Profiles: The VSE Corporation
  • Document 1: The Goldwater Nichols Act of 1986
  • Document 2: The Executive-Legislative Budget Process
LC Card Number: 2008033658
LCC Class: UC263
Dewey Class: 355
All rights reserved. Copyright © 1999-2008 Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.
88 Post Road West, Westport CT 06881, (203) 226-3571