Summary: What dangers do Americans face now and in the foreseeable future? How should we respond to them? Like all nations, in the past the United States has responded to dangers foreign and domestic by increasing the power of government to provide security for its people. But Americans also believe that the powers of government should be limited in order to protect the liberties of the people. If the growing power of government has so far not infringed excessively on our liberties, will that remain the case in the future? Do the threats we face require such an increase in the power of government that our liberties must be undermined? Is there another way to meet the dangers we face besides increasing the power of government?

David Tucker is an Associate Professor in the Defense Analysis Department at the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California. He also taught in the homeland security program at the Postgraduate School and teaches in the Master’s in American History and Government program at the Ashbrook Center, Ashland University. Prior to his current teaching duties, he worked in the Special Operations office in the Pentagon and in the Foreign Service in Africa and Europe. He is the author most recently of Illuminating the Dark Arts of War: Terrorism, Sabotage and Subversion in Homeland Security and the New Conflict (Continuum, 2012). He is also the author of books on Thomas Jefferson and U.S. Special Operations Forces.