Berkley Lecturer's book now available for purchase

(Update: Please see the bottom of the post for a link to The Boston Globe review of One Nation Under Contract.)
 
The 2009 Berkley Lecture will be given this year by Dr. Allison Stanger, Russell Leng Professor of International Politics and Economics and Director of the Rohatyn Center for International Affairs at Middlebury College.

From Stanger's biography at Middlebury's website:

"Stanger received her Ph.D. in Political Science from Harvard University. She also holds an A.M. in Regional Studies-Soviet Union (Harvard), a graduate diploma in Economics (London School of Economics), and a B.S. in Actuarial Science/Mathematics (Ball State University). She has studied foreign languages and literature at Charles University (Prague), the Sorbonne (Paris), and the Pushkin Institute (Moscow)."

Stanger is now a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Academic Leadership Council of Business for Diplomatic Action. Her op/eds and essays have been widely published. Recently, US News and World Report published a piece that is likely a good preview of her Dec. 4th lecture. She argues that after the end of the Cold War intelligence agencies fell into complacency, only to be shocked back into action by 9/11. Unfortunately, government agencies no longer maintained the manpower and budgets that they had commanded during the Cold War. To meet the demand, private companies were offered government contracts, sometimes worth billions, to handle intelligence and military affairs on behalf of the United States. Private companies, however, are motivated by profit. Allegations have surfaced of widespread contract fraud and misconduct by these companies-- everything from charging the US government for feeding nonexistent soldiers in Iraq to torturing suspected terrorists. Spending records from the State and Defense Departments show that expenditures have multiplied several times over as they turn duties over to contractors. What is less clear, however, is the effect on the CIA in the years since 9/11:

"Since CIA contracts fall outside normal licensing protocols and the agency's budget is classified, it had been relatively easy to keep these issues out of the public eye. The change in administration has loosened tongues, however, and a window has been opened on what is in reality a transformed intelligence community."

One Nation Under Contract was released on Oct 12th. To register to attend the Berkley Lecture (Dec. 4th at the Marriott downtown) please see the IRC website.


One Nation Under Contract: The Outsourcing of American Power and the Future of Foreign Policy at Amazon.com

"How the CIA Became Dangerously Dependent on Outside Contractors" (US News and World Report)

"So who's in charge?" One Nation Under Contract reviewed by the Boston Globe