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The response to the September 11 tragedy has raised fears about the American empire abroad and the gutting of constitutional liberties at home. But the editors of this book--one of whom, Marcus Raskin, served on the National Security Council--claim that the changes in the American government since the attacks, though profound, are not necessarily new. The "National Security State" has shaped our government for at least a century, and since 1947, it has embedded itself in the attitudes of the bureaucracy, the major political parties, and the educational system. This collection of original essays--which includes such distinguished historians as Gar Alperovitz, Kai Bird, William Blum, Saul Landau, and Carolyn Eisenberg--traces those changes back to the early years of the twentieth century, and follows them step by step through the cold war to the present.