My friend Justin Elliott has an extraordinary story in Mother Jones. It tells the tale of a 2002 report commissioned from Booz Allen Hamilton by the Pentagon's Office of Net Assessment, a sort of in-house military think tank. The report, called "Military Advantage in History," is a survey of the world's empires with an eye toward how the United States can emulate their success. Its writing is akin to "undergraduate-level work," one military historian tells Mother Jones, saying the report displays "an intense, myopic habit of wanting to make the ancient world fit into modern stereotypes."
It's fascinating that although Roman history can be read as a cautionary anti-imperial tale, the ONA report lauds Rome as the foremost example for an American empire, without even nodding toward Rome's failures or fall. But it's not too surprising that a history report written by military contractors -- not historians -- lacks complexity and was drafted to fit the pro-war preconceptions of its intended readers. One thing I hope we can look forward to under the next administration is, of course, a return of real, credentialed experts to their rightful place as government advisers.
In any case, you should read Justin's whole story.
--Dana Goldstein
