Decades ago, the Wars on Drugs and Terror broke down the walls separating law enforcement from military operations. In A World of Enemies: America’s Wars at Home and Abroad from Kennedy to Biden, Osamah Khalil tells the story of how an America plagued by fears of waning power and influence embraced foreign and domestic forever wars. Khalil, Professor of History at Syracuse University, argues that the militarization of US domestic and foreign affairs was the product of America’s failure in Vietnam. Unsettled by their inability to prevail in Southeast Asia, US leaders increasingly came to see a host of problems as immune to political solutions. Rather, crime, drugs, and terrorism were enemies spawned in “badlands”—whether the Middle East or stateside inner cities. Laurie Mercier talks with Khalil about his new book.
Image: cover of A World of Enemies by Osamah Khalil, with red, blue, and black lettering and US flag graphics on a white background. Fair use.