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In
Military Medicine and the Hidden Costs of War, the distinguished political scientist Tanisha M. Fazal covers the full range of American wars from the Civil War to War on Terror. A rich and engrossing account of the advances in military medicine, the book shows that over time there has been a steep increase in the wounded-to-killed ratio. That has had a major impact on the actual costs of US wars--as more soldiers survive, health care costs dramatically rise, making the costs of war much greater than politicians say they are. Yet the public is unaware of these long-term costs, which contributes to America's penchant for engaging in so-called "endless wars." All told, this is both a powerful history of American wars through the lens of injury and medicine and also a necessary corrective for how we understand the costs of war.
List of contents
- List of Abbreviations
- Note on Sources
- Introduction: Blood, Gore, and the Costs of War
- Chapter 1: Bad Air and Boiled Horsehair: The US Civil War
- Chapter 2: From Pestilence to Penicillin: The World Wars
- Chapter 3: Blood is King: The Medicine of Counterinsurgency
- Chapter 4: Soldiers' Hearts: Reckoning with Psychological Trauma
- Conclusion: Unraveling the Costs of War
- Bibliography
- Notes
- Index
About the author
Tanisha M. Fazal is Professor of Political Science at the University of Minnesota. Her scholarship focuses on sovereignty, international law, and armed conflict. She is the author of two award-winning books, Wars of Law: Unintended Consequences in the Regulation of Armed Conflict and State Death: The Politics and Geography of Conquest, Occupation, and Annexation and numerous articles in academic and policy journals. She is also a frequent commentator on international security issues. From 2021-2023, she was an Andrew Carnegie Fellow.
Summary
A highly original comprehensive history of US military medicine.
Decisions to go to war are often framed in cost-benefit terms, and typically such assessments do not factor in longer term costs. However, recent dramatic improvements in American military medicine have had an unanticipated effect: saving more soldiers' lives has vastly increased long-term, downstream costs of war with profound consequences for global politics in an era of heightened great power competition.
In Military Medicine and the Hidden Costs of War, Tanisha M. Fazal traces the modern history of medical treatment and casualty rates in American conflicts from the Civil War to the more recent counterinsurgency wars. As she shows, wars became increasingly survivable for wounded troops, to the point now where a large majority of wounded soldiers survive. Yet the human and financial implications of this steep increase in the wounded-to-killed ratio are dramatic, and her powerful analysis of this shift provides a necessary corrective to how we understand the costs of war. For each major conflict, Fazal analyzes the weapons used, injuries sustained, and policies put in place for veterans' care and pensions. As she argues, these improvements have significant financial and deeply personal implications for the returned wounded and their families, as well as the US government and its citizenry. Fazal's analysis highlights the significance of policymakers underestimating the costs of war, which in turn makes it easier both to initiate and continue military action abroad, contributing to Americas' penchant for engaging in so-called "endless wars."
A sweeping political history, Military Medicine and the Hidden Costs of War will fundamentally change our understanding of the lasting consequences of America's wars.
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The book is very clear and well written.
