January 17th, 2011 will mark the 50th anniversary of President Eisenhower’s famous farewell address in which he warned against the perils of the military-industrial complex. Today the New America Foundation [2], a Ploughshares grantee, hosted a panel discussion [3] on this topic to mark the release of William D. Hartung [4]’s book entitled Prophets of War: Lockheed Martin and the Making of the Military-Industrial Complex.

Hartung is the Director of the Arms and Security Initiative at the New America Foundation. He was joined on the panel by Gordon Adams [5] of the Stimson Center, David Berteau [6] of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and Danielle Brian [7] of the Project on Government Oversight.

In 1961 Eisenhower spoke of “unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, of the military industrial complex,” and by 1966 the military budget exceeded $300 billion. Hartung’s book recounts the story of one major recipient of these Defense Department dollars, Lockheed Martin. Showing a history of powerful influence over US policy, Hartung provides a clear picture of the military-industrial complex at work.

As the fiscal year 2011 budget [8] request for the Defense Department stands at over $708 billion, Eisenhower’s message clearly remains relevant in our time.