Magazine Article - Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

Review of The Pentagon and the Art of War and toward a More Effective Defense

| May 1986

The essential structure of the modern U.S. defense establishment was created, amid great controversy, by the National Security Act of 1947. That legislation created a unified Department of Defense to replace the separate Navy and War Departments, established the Air Force as an independent service, and provided the legal basis for the National Security Council and the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to serve as organizational mechanisms for coordinating national policy.

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For more information on this publication: Belfer Communications Office
For Academic Citation: Steven E. Miller. “Review of The Pentagon and the Art of War and toward a More Effective Defense.” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, May 1986.

The Author

Steven E. Miller

Steven E. Miller

  • Director, International Security Program; Editor-in-Chief, International Security; Co-Principal Investigator, Project on Managing the Atom
  • Member of the Board, Belfer Center
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