America Inc.?: Innovation And Enterprise In The National Security State (cornell Studies In Political Economy)

For more than half a century, the United States has led the world in developing major technologies that drive the modern economy and underpin its prosperity. In __America, Inc.__, Linda Weiss attributes the U.S. capacity for transformative innovation to the strength of its national security state, a complex of agencies, programs, and hybrid arrangements that has developed around the institution of permanent defense preparedness and the pursuit of technological supremacy. She examines how that complex emerged and how it has evolved in response to changing geopolitical threats and domestic political constraints, from the Cold War period to the post-9/11 era. Weiss focuses on state-funded venture capital funds, new forms of technology procurement by defense and security-related agencies, and innovation in robotics, nanotechnology, and renewable energy since the 1980s. Weiss argues that the national security state has been the crucible for breakthrough innovations, a catalyst for entrepreneurship and the formation of new firms, and a collaborative network coordinator for private-sector initiatives. Her book appraises persistent myths about the military-commercial relationship at the core of the National Security State. Weiss also discusses the implications for understanding U.S. capitalism, the American state, and the future of American primacy as financialized corporations curtail investment in manufacturing and innovation. The national security state and technology leadership. The U.S. puzzle The argument Re-viewing the NSS-private sector relationship Existing accounts : discounting, sidelining, civilianizing the state The approach of this book New thinking on the American state Rise of the national security state as technology enterprise Emergence (1945-1957) Growth : the Sputnik effect (1958-1968) Crisis : legitimation and innovation deficits (1969-1979) Reform and reorientation (i) : beginnings (1980-1989) Reform and reorientation (ii) : consolidation (1990-1999) Re-visioning (2000-2012) Investing in new ventures. Geopolitical roots of the U.S. venture capital industry Post-cold war trends : new funds for a new security environment Beyond serendipity : procuring transformative technology. Technology procurement versus R&D : the activist element of government purchasing Spin-off and spin-around serendipitous and purposeful Breaching the wall : edging toward military-commercial (re-)integration Reorienting the public-private partnership. Structural changes in the domestic arena Reorientation : the quest for commercial viability Beyond a military-industrial divide : innovating for both security and commerce No more breakthroughs? Post-9/11 decline of the NSS technology enterprise? Nanotechnology : a coordinated effort Robotics : the drive for drones Clean energy : from laggard to leader? Caveat : a faltering NSS innovation engine? Hybridization and American antistatism. The significance of hybridization An American tendency? Nature of the beast : neither "privatization" nor "outsourcing" Innovation hybrids Penetrating the myths of the military-commerce relationship. Four myths laid bare Serendipitous spin-off Hidden industrial policy Wall of separation and military-industrial complex R&D spending creates innovation leadership The defense spending question : in search of the Holy Grail? Hybrid state, hybrid capitalism, great power turning point. Comparative institutions and varieties of capitalism The American state Great power turning point. "For more than half a century, the United States has led the world in developing major technologies that drive the modern economy and underpin its prosperity. Linda Weiss attributes the U.S. capacity for transformative innovation to the strength of its national security state, a complex of agencies, programs, and hybrid arrangements that has developed around the institution of permanent defense preparedness and the pursuit of technological supremacy. In America Inc.? she examines how that complex emerged and how it has evolved in response to changing geopolitical threats and domestic political constraints, from the Cold War period to the post-9/11 era."--Back cover