In this essay for The Atlantic, Elliot Ackerman argues that renaming the Department of Defense as the War Department would be more than a symbolic gesture.
He traces the shift from the historic War Department to the post-1947 Department of Defense, connecting the name change to America’s broader approach to military power, intervention, and national security strategy.
War, Defense, and Strategic Clarity
Ackerman argues that a War Department would speak more honestly about the purpose of military force: fighting and winning wars. For him, clearer language could help produce clearer strategy.
The Post-1947 Security State
The essay examines how the National Security Act of 1947 expanded America’s national security bureaucracy and helped shape decades of interventionist foreign policy, including Iraq and Afghanistan.
Preparing for Future Conflict
Ackerman connects the argument to the challenge posed by China, warning that a major war would require national mobilization, strategic discipline, and a more serious understanding of victory and defeat.