No sooner had the Soviet Union collapsed and the Cold War ended than the Pentagon declared a new threat, said to be every bit as menacing as the perceived enemies of the previous era: rising Third World powers equipped with chemical and nuclear weapons.

Almost overnight, controlling these "rogue states" - North Korea, Libya, and Iran, among others - became the centerpiece of America's foreign policy and the justification for levels of military expenditure nearly as high as they had been during the Cold War.

Rogue States and Nuclear Outlaws is the first full-scale critical analysis of this dramatic shift in American strategic thinking. Drawing on Pentagon documents, the well-known defense analyst Michael Klare shows how military planners sought - and found - this new class of enemies; how they argued that Iraq's invasion of Kuwait confirmed the new strategic posture; and how, in the aftermath of Desert Storm, the armed services began to be reshaped to fight an endless succession of Third World adversaries.

With boldness and precision, Klare explores the alarming influence of this military agenda on America's peacetime foreign policy, and warns that our overpreparation for regional conflicts may well make the Pentagon's prophecy self-fulfilling. Throughout, he makes a strong case for alternative ways of thinking about world security and suggests other means to reduce global discord and violence.