A Congresswoman's Insider Account of America's Decades-Long Struggle with National Security Challenges
Insanity can be defined as doing the same thing over and over again but expecting a different result. As a nation, America has cycled through the same defense and intelligence issues since the end of the Cold War. In Insanity Defense, Congresswoman Jane Harman chronicles how four administrations have failed to confront some of the toughest national security policy issues and suggests achievable fixes that can move us toward a safer future.
The reasons for these inadequacies are varied and complex, in some cases going back generations. American leaders didn't realize soon enough that the institutions and habits formed during the Cold War were no longer effective in an increasingly multi-power world transformed by digital technology and riven by ethno-sectarian conflict. Yet the United States settled into a comfortable, at times arrogant, position as the lone superpower. At the same time our governing institutions, which had stayed resilient, however imperfectly, through multiple crises, began their own unraveling.
Congresswoman Harman provides an insider's account of decades of American national security—its failures and omissions—and a roadmap to making significant progress on solving these perennially difficult issues. Insanity Defense offers a unique perspective from a witness, legislator, exhorter, enabler, dissident and, eventually, outside advisor and commentator on defending democracy in the post-9/11 era.