Wreckonomics: Why It's Time to End the War on Everything

"In Wreckonomics, we examine the Cold War, the "war on terror", the "fight against illegal migration", and the "war on drugs and crime" through political systems analysis. We argue that these various "wars" and "fights" have frequently been damaging and even counterproductive - not least because they have been extensively "gamed" by those with varied purposes in mind. We also extend our framework to consider the costs of "laissez faire" and "lockdown" during Covid. We suggest that even as success has been loudly proclaimed and evidence has been marshaled to support this claim, it is very often precisely the belligerent response that is doing most to fuel the problem. We argue for a better appreciation of the true costs and benefits of these various wars and fights - and in particular of the way that costs have been unfairly and unevenly distributed. If the habit of fixation-and-gaming can be set aside, space can be created for the kind if dissent and political dialogue that helps to build alternative coalitions around a proper appreciation of costs"--
The United States' ignominious exit from Afghanistan in 2021 topped two decades of failure and devastation wrought by the war on terror. A long-running "fight against migration" has stoked chaos and rights abuses while pushing migrants onto more dangerous routes. For its part, the war on drugs has failed to dampen narcotics demand while fueling atrocities from Mexico to the Philippines. Why do such "failing" policies persist for so long? And why do politicians keep feeding the very crises they say they are combating?In Wreckonomics, Ruben Andersson and David Keen analyze why disastrous policies live on even when it has become apparent that they do not work. The perverse outcomes of the fights against terror, migration, and drugs are more than a blip or an anomaly. Rather, the proliferation of wars and pseudo-wars has become a dangerous political habit and an endless source of political advantage and profit. From combating crime to the war on drugs, from civil wars to global wars and even "covid wars," chronic failure has been harnessed to the appearance of success. Over a wide variety of spheres, problems have persisted and worsened not so much despite the "wars" and "fights" waged against them as thanks to these floundering endeavors.Covering a range of cases around the world, Wreckonomics exposes and interrogates the incentive systems that allow destructive policies to flourish in the face of systemic failure—while offering strategies for tackling our addiction to waging war on everything.