Event

David Unger: Our Misguided Pursuit of Absolute Security

In our first 150 years, the United States valued limited military intervention abroad and the checks and balances put in place by the founding fathers. Yet history took a sharp turn during World War II, when we began to build a vast complex of national-security institutions, reflexes, and beliefs. Ironically, says New York Times editorialist David C. Unger, this obsessive pursuit has not just damaged our democracy and undermined our economic strength it also has failed to make us safer. Unger, author of The Emergency State, proposes a paradigm that would better address our security needs and reverse the damage. Presented by the Town Hall Center for Civic Life, with Elliott Bay Book Company. Series media sponsorship provided by PubliCola. Series supported by The Boeing Company Charitable Trust and the RealNetworks Foundation.