‘NSC-68’: The blueprint for permanent war [Socialist History: [S1 Episode 3]

Most empires never write their plans down, but the American empire did.

Most empires never write their plans down, but the American empire did. In 1950 a top-secret government document called NSC-68 laid out the blueprint for permanent war: a militarized economy, a nuclear buildup without limit, and a posture of global confrontation that would outlast the men who wrote it. It is the founding doctrine beneath every operation in this series.

In this episode we take a deep dive into how NSC-68 was written and by whom, and its role in shaping the trillion-dollar war economy still running today.

This is part of the first season of Socialist History, our new series on The Socialist Program. In each episode we unpack a different CIA or Pentagon operation or document that shaped US imperialism.

Join The Socialist Program community at thesocialistprogram to get access to the next episodes in this series, more exclusive content, and help keep this show on the air.

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