![]() ![]() Let’s see if we can discover what the thesis is. They have attracted considerable attention by their statement of Melman’s thesis. This paper will concern itself primarily with the first two chapters, which are the heart of the booklet. The rest of the booklet contains chapters by Melman and his colleagues which deal largely with how defense money could be better spent. Chapter 1: “How Much Military Power Is Enough?” and Chapter II: “The Military Budget, Is There a Choice?” are by Melman. Let us then briefly examine Melman’s statements and proposals. But this premise is supported only by the title of the booklet one vainly turns the pages looking for any further discussion of strategy. An informed discussion of strategies is always in order. It would seem that we’re off to a fast start. But many people here think the whole process could be unproved by more informed consideration of the strategies, instead of just the hardware, that dictate all the spending. It’s impossible to buy a perfect defense nothing can always deter somebody else’s irrational act, nor is there any technical formula guaranteed to tell how much should be spent, or for what, to assure the best of always imperfect protection. Professor Melman and six associates have prepared a booklet entitled “A Strategy for American Security.” The following quotation from the Wall Street Journal, January 24, 1963, appears on the inside cover of the booklet: And when complex problems of strategy, politics, and procurement swirl around our heads like nebulae-who would not like to have all this reduced to plain talk and simple arithmeticĪnswers are what we want-the simpler and neater the better. When large sums are spent there is often a strong suspicion that much is wasted. Here is a list of the things to do with the $22 billion you save.”Īnd who wouldn’t like such news? Especially when delivered with conviction and without equivocation by the leader of a group of professors. We should cut the defense budget by at least $22 billion. The prophet of overkill has risen in the East, and his preaching is sweet to the ears: “We have stockpiled bombs enough to kill the Soviets hundreds of times over but killing them more than once is costly, stupid, and wasteful we can kill them only once, so we should stop wasting money. THE ROAD TO MELTOWN -WHAT DOES MELMAN SAY They should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of the RAND Corporation or the official opinion or policy of any of its governmental or private research sponsors. The views expressed in this paper are those of the author. We are proud to count him among our authors.-THE EDITORS He was a Professor in Residence of Political Science and Senior Fellow in the National Security Studies Program at UCLA in 1963 and is a consultant to the US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. He has actively participated in most of the major arms-control and disarmament conferences in this country and abroad, including the Pugwash Conferences in Moscow and London, the Arden House Strategy for Peace Conferences, several meetings of the American Assembly, the Stowe (Vt.) Conference of Scientists on World Affairs, and the Accra Assembly in Ghana. He is on the Board of Sponsors of the magazine War/Peace Report, the Board of the magazine Disarmament and Arms Control, and the Advisory Board of the Journal of Arms Control. He was an original member of the Committee on Security Through Arms Control of the National Planning Association. He is a long-time member of United World Federalists and has served on its National Executive Council. More importantly, he has a long record of activity and interest in the problems of peace as well as war. Katz is a physicist and an outstanding expert on aerial and space reconnaissance, first with the Air Force and now with the RAND Corporation. ![]() The author of the following study possesses unimpeachable credentials. This is not solely because we believe his theories to be specious, but because we believe them to be dangerously so in that they are capturing the fancy of certain members of Congress and also that of other policy-makers and -molders. Seymour Melman, of Columbia University, we are making an exception. This magazine rarely devotes its limited space to detailed refutation of theories and proposals of a single individual.
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