Are Americans Becoming More Peaceful?

"It's time that someone broke into the general gloom created by a war-loving administration and reminded us that we are a peace-loving people. Paul Joseph's book does just that, not with fantasy but with facts, showing how the public antipathy to war, suppressed too long by propaganda and deception, is coming to the surface, and offers hope." Howard Zinn "In this antidote to despair, Joseph shows how even the most sophisticated efforts of US political and military leaders to maintain public support for war are flawed and doomed to failure in the face of an increasingly skeptical public that is unwilling to accept the costs." William A. Gamson, Boston College "An original and thought-provoking perspective on one of the most important issues in American politics today." Michael Klare, Hampshire College Are Americans becoming more peaceful -- even after the 2004 elections and the seeming affirmation of the war in Iraq? This book looks at the meaning of peace in the face of war and offers an optimistic interpretation of the public's changing views. US citizens are becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the costs of war that can be measured not just in dollars but in lives and international respect. Americans are becoming ever more resistant to government management of the "facts" surrounding war. In areas ranging from media and photojournalism to gender and casualties, Joseph exposes the reality of popular opposition to war. Preface and Acknowledgments, 1. From Mobilized to Conditional War, 2. Managing Fear, 3. Managing Information, 4. Managing the Media, 5. Managing Photographs, 6. Managing Gender, 7. Managing Militarism, 8. Managing Casualties, 9. From Managing War to Making Peace, Notes, Index