The Interlocking Institutions of Power and the War on Terror

by Luke Kim 

In his book The Power Elite, American sociologist C. Wright Mills argues that “within American society, major national power now resides in the economic, the political, and the military domains” (2002:6) where the domains of each have now grown so large that all three are fundamentally interlocked. According to Mills, the interlocking nature “[...] is clearly revealed at each of the points of crisis of modern capitalist society - slump, war, and boom,” (8). In this regard, I argue that the War on Terror has presented a time of crisis that elucidates the unavoidable enmeshing between the three major domains of power. 

In the image, which depicts Col. Kenneth Cole giving a lecture in the Program on Terrorism and Security Studies at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, a slide is projected that depicts several non-governmental partners that can be drawn upon in “counterterrorism” efforts. Among these partners, the first listed is private business, with a picture of Google as a representation of this corporate partnership. And while it is difficult to ascertain from a first glance, the phrase “non-governmental” also seems to suggest that politicians’ participation is important. That a lecture given by an Army colonel suggests partnership with political and economic organizations validates Mills’ idea that the three domains of power all collude together in times of crisis. 

Something that Mills does miss in his analysis, however, is how knowledge plays into the creation and preservation of power. As Edward Saïd (1978)  astutely notes in Orientalism, Eurocentric imperial projects have always relied on academic scholarship to “know” the Other to dominate it. Thus, while political, economic, and military interests are all represented in the War on Terror, it cannot be understated the role that intelligentsia and cultural production also plays in this interlocking scheme, both here and beyond.

Works Cited 

George C. Marshall Center Public Affairs Office. July 25, 2016. “PTSS 16-12 Participants Study 

Counter Terrorists Narratives.” From Flickr. Retrieved April 21, 2022. 

(https://www.flickr.com/photos/gcmcphotos/28481456861)

Mills, C. Wright. 2002. The Power Elite. London, UK: Oxford. 

Saïd, Edward W. 1978. Orientalism. New York, NY: Pantheon Books.