Notes on the political economy of war [pdf]

"Indeed, one might feel justified imagining the making of American foreign policy, not as integrated strategizing at the White House, but as a competitive policy marketplace.

Around it, a host of enterprising planning staffs, from the branches of the military to the secret services and a host of research institutions and lobbying firms, simultaneously develop foreign intervention projects for which they seek permission and which, if permission is given, earn them internal funding, public prestige, and external battle experience – projects that may make little sense from a national interest perspective, but all the more from an organizational growth perspective."