Twenty Years of Service
Twenty Years of Service

Author: Brandon J. Archuleta

Publisher: University Press of Kansas

Published: 2020-08-06

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 0700629769

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Military pension policies are as old as the republic itself and reside at the intersection of American social, economic, and defense policy. But as the nation’s social and economic circumstances underwent dramatic changes over the last half century, military pension policy remained static, stuck in the personnel and retirement model of the industrial age. This book examines why. Integrating policy history, theory, and practice, Twenty Years of Service provides the most comprehensive examination of US military pension policy in a generation. Brandon J. Archuleta sets the stage with an exploration of the rise, evolution, and transformation of the veterans’ policy subsystem from the American Revolution through World War II. The ensuing theoretical overview explains how the military personnel policy subsystem achieved the autonomy it enjoyed from 1948 to 2018; it also offers a new perspective on autonomous policy subsystems in general, which helps to account for the long-term pension policy stasis. In practical terms, Archuleta explores the role of the successful 2015 Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission as an institutional venue for policy change during the congressional budget battles of the 2010s. Through extensive archival research, illustrative case studies, and field interviews with Pentagon bureaucrats, congressional staffers, veterans’ lobbyists, defense scholars, and journalists, Twenty Years of Service brings the policymaking process to life. Its insights will prove invaluable to policy scholars and defense practitioners alike.

The Twenty Years' Crisis, 1919-1939
The Twenty Years' Crisis, 1919-1939

Author: E. Carr

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Published: 2001-09-19

Total Pages: 344

ISBN-13: 9780333963753

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E.H. Carr's Twenty Years' Crisis is a classic work in International Relations. Published in 1939, on the eve of World War II, it was immediately recognized by friend and foe alike as a defining work in the fledgling discipline. The author was one of the most influential and controversial intellectuals of the twentieth century. The issues and themes he develops in this book continue to have relevance to modern day concerns with power and its distribution in the international system. Michael Cox's critical introduction provides the reader with background information about the author, the context for the book, its main themes and contemporary relevance. Written with the student in mind, it offers a guide to understanding a complex, but crucial text.

The New Twenty Years' Crisis
The New Twenty Years' Crisis

Author: Philip Cunliffe

Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP

Published: 2020-09-01

Total Pages: 177

ISBN-13: 0228002400

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The liberal order is decaying. Will it survive, and if not, what will replace it? On the eightieth anniversary of the publication of E.H. Carr's The Twenty Years' Crisis, 1919-1939, Philip Cunliffe revisits this classic text, juxtaposing its claims with contemporary debates on the rise and fall of the liberal international order. The New Twenty Years' Crisis reveals that the liberal international order experienced a twenty-year cycle of decline from 1999 to 2019. In contrast to claims that the order has been undermined by authoritarian challengers, Cunliffe argues that the primary drivers of the crisis are internal. He shows that the heavily ideological international relations theory that has developed since the end of the Cold War is clouded by utopianism, replacing analysis with aspiration and expressing the interests of power rather than explaining its functioning. As a result, a growing tendency to discount political alternatives has made us less able to adapt to political change. In search of a solution, this book argues that breaking through the current impasse will require not only dissolving the new forms of utopianism, but also pushing past the fear that the twenty-first century will repeat the mistakes of the twentieth. Only then can we finally escape the twenty years' crisis. By reflecting on Carr's foundational work, The New Twenty Years' Crisis offers an opportunity to take stock of the current state of international order and international relations theory.

20 Years in the Secret Service
20 Years in the Secret Service

Author: Rufus W. Youngblood

Publisher: Fideli Publishing

Published: 2018-09-24

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 9781948638999

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When shots rang out in Dallas on November 22, 1963, U.S. Secret Service Agent Rufus W. Youngblood immediately lunged over the seat of the vice president's car and bravely used his body to shield Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson. Faced with the unknown, Youngblood maintained this protective position as they sped toward Parkland Hospital. Throughout that fateful day, he vigilantly remained by LBJ's side to ensure his safety. This candid memoir includes Youngblood's first-hand account of the Kennedy assassination and its aftermath, as well as highlights from his twenty-year career in the Secret Service during which he protected Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon. Readers will enjoy Youngblood's behind-the-scenes look at some of the most pivotal events in U.S. history, humorous anecdotes, and descriptions of the complexities, risks, and constant tensions involved in protecting America's chief executive. A unique and comprehensive collection of more than one hundred photographs has been added to illustrate this agent's amazing story.