American Military History

There are several questions below–choose ONE.

You will write an interpretive essay of 750-1200 words.

You are expected to formulate a historical argument responding to one of the topics and defend that argument with historical evidence drawn from course materials (augmented, if you so desire, by external resources, but you must exercise care to use high quality sources if you choose to use external materials–the top Google hit does not necessarily qualify).

You should not rely on any encyclopedia (like, say, Wikipedia) or similar resource (SparkNotes, Khan Academy, etc.) for anything more than the most basic factual information. Assigned course readings will generally be more reliable resources for matters of interpretation. If you’re basing your whole essay on a Wikipedia entry, the implication is that you have not sought to master the assigned materials—don’t embarrass yourself.

All sources that you CONSULT in the course of the writing process (NOTjust those that you quote directly!!!) must be cited using proper or Chicago Manual of Style (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.) format. Essays that lack in-text citations will receive failing grades.

Questions–CHOOSE ONE from the following:

1.Assess US strategy in the War for the Greater Middle East in the context of longer-running trends in American military history. In what ways do the strategy, and more generally, the experience, of the “Forever War” conform to the patterns of American military history, and in what ways do they diverge?

2.Identify the most important trends in U.S. civil-military relations from 1945-present, providing illustrative examples.

3.Walter Millis argued that by the end of the 1950s war had reached a state of hypertrophy, losing its utility as a tool of national policy. Explain his argument in its own time and EVALUATE it in terms of its applicability to developments over the last sixty years of American military history, pointedly including the last nineteen. [Was it accurate when he wrote it? Is it accurate now? Have post-1960 developments reinforced his judgment, or altered the situation in fundamental ways?]