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1、REVIEWOFTHEMONTHTheU.S.ImperialTriangleandMilitarySpendingJOHNBELLAMYFOSTER,HANNAHHOLLEMAN,ANDROBERTW.MCCHESNEYTheUnitedStatesisuniquetodayamongmajorstatesinthedegreeofitsrelianceonmilitaryspending,anditsdeterminationtostandastridetheworld,militarilyaswe
2、llaseconomically.Noothercountryinthepost–SecondWorldWarworldhasbeensogloballydestructiveorinflictedsomanywarfatalities.Since2001,acknowledgedU.S.na-tionaldefensespendinghasincreasedbyalmost60percentinrealdol-lartermstoalevelin2007of$553billion.Thisishigh
3、erthanatanypointsincetheSecondWorldWar(thoughlowerthanpreviousde-cadesasapercentageofGDP).Basedonsuchofficialfigures,theUnitedStatesisreportedbytheStockholmInternationalPeaceResearchInstitute(SIPRI)asaccountingfor45percentofworldmilitaryexpen-ditures.Yet
4、,sogargantuanandlabyrinthineareU.S.militaryexpendi-turesthattheabovegrosslyunderstatestheirtruemagnitude,which,asweshallseebelow,reached$1trillionin2007.1Externally,thesearenecessaryexpendituresofworldempire.Internally,theyrepresent,asMichalKaleckiwasthe
5、firsttosuggest,animperialtriangleofstate-financedmilitaryproduction,mediapropa-ganda,andreal/imaginedeconomic-employmenteffectsthathasbe-comeadeeplyentrenched,andself-perpetuatingfeatureoftheU.S.socialorder.2ManyanalyststodayviewthepresentgrowthofU.S.mil
6、itarismandimperialismaslargelydivorcedfromtheearlierColdWarhistoryoftheUnitedStates,whichwascommonlyseenasaresponsetothethreatrepresentedbytheSovietUnion.Placedagainstthisbackdropthecur-JohnBellamyFosteriseditorofMonthlyReviewandprofessorofsociologyatthe
7、UniversityofOregon.HannahHollemanisadoctoralstudentattheUniversityofOregon.ROBERTW.MCCHESNEYistheGutgsellEndowedProfessorintheDepartmentofCommunicationattheUniversityofIllinoisatUrbana-Champaign.HisbooksincludeThePoliticalEconomyofMedia(MonthlyReviewPres
8、s,2008),CommunicationRevolution(NewPress,2007),TheProblemoftheMedia(MonthlyReviewPress,2004),andRichMedia,PoorDemocracy(UniversityofIllinois,1999).TheauthorswouldliketothankFredMagdoffandR.Jonnafortheirhelp.12MONTHLYREVIEW