Clear and Present Safety: The World Has Never Been Better and Why That Matters to Americans
About this audiobook
An eye-opening look at the history of national security fear-mongering in America and how it distracts citizens from the issues that really matter
What most frightens the average American? Terrorism. North Korea. Iran. But what if none of these are probable or consequential threats to America? What if the world today is safer, freer, wealthier, healthier, and better educated than ever before? What if the real dangers to Americans are noncommunicable diseases, gun violence, drug overdoses, and even hospital infections?
In this compelling look at what they call the “Threat‐Industrial Complex,” Michael A. Cohen and Micah Zenko explain why politicians, policy analysts, academics, and journalists are misleading Americans about foreign threats and ignoring more serious national security challenges at home. Cohen and Zenko argue that we should ignore Washington’s threat‐mongering and focus instead on furthering extraordinary global advances in human development and economic and political cooperation. At home, we should focus on that which actually harms us and undermines our quality of life: substandard schools and health care, inadequate infrastructure, gun violence, income inequality, and political paralysis.
About the author
Michael A. Cohen is a regular contributor for the Boston Globe on national politics and foreign affairs. He is the author of American Maelstrom: The 1968 Election and the Politics of Division.
Micah Zenko is a senior fellow in the Center for Preventive Action at the Council on Foreign Relations. He is the author of Red Team: How to Succeed by Thinking Like the Enemy.
Mike Chamberlain is an actor and voice-over performer, as well as an AudioFile Earphones Award-winning audiobook narrator. Along with animation and video game characters, Mike performs narration and voices promos for television. He lives with his wife and daughter in Southern California.
