ix, [1], 186, [4] pages. Illustrations. Footnotes. Index. Ink notation on

ix, [1], 186, [4] pages. Illustrations. Footnotes. Index. Ink notation on fep. DJ has slight wear, scratching and soiling. William Eldridge Odom (June 23, 1932-May 30, 2008) was a retired U.S. Army 3-star general, and former Director of the NSA under President Ronald Reagan, which culminated a 31-year career in military intelligence, mainly specializing in matters relating to the Soviet Union. After his retirement from the military, he became a think tank policy expert and a university professor and became known for his outspoken criticism of the Iraq War and warrantless wiretapping of American citizens. In 1977, he was appointed as the military assistant to Zbigniew Brzezinski, the hawkish assistant for national security affairs to President Jimmy Carter. Among the primary issues he focused on were American-Soviet relations, including the SALT nuclear weapons talks, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Iran hostage crisis, presidential directives on the situation in the Persian Gulf, terrorism and hijackings, and the executive order on telecommunications policy. From 2 November 1981 to 12 May 1985, Odom served as the Army's Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence. From 1985 to 1988, he served as the director of the National Security Agency under president Ronald Reagan. Odom was a Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute, where he specialized in military issues, intelligence, and international relations. He was an adjunct professor at Yale University and Georgetown University, where he taught courses in U.S. National Security Policy and Russian Politics. Odom, the former director of the National Security Agency, warns that the U.S. is in the process of dismantling its military capability before developing a post-Cold War strategy. In this concise analysis, he urges reversing the drift toward isolationism in favor of a strategy that would see a U.S. policy of carefully selected global engagement, decreased dependence on unilateral initiatives and greater emphasis on international cooperation to keep the general peace and contain local conflicts. Addressing the issue of how we can afford adequate military forces in a time of austerity, Odom suggests cost-efficient ways to increase strategic lift, improve close-air support capability and develop further expertise in coalition management. He calls for radical reconstruction of the Defense Department, including abolishing the Joint Chiefs of Staff and creating a defense council. This is crucial reading for those seriously concerned with America's security and defense.