More than 50 years after its publication, The Professional Soldier remains a path-breaking study of civil-military relations. In the Cold War era, Morris Janowitz was among the first to recognize that the military was a fruitful subject for social science to study. Asking who soldiers are, what they do, and what they believe, Janowitz’s studies of armed forces and society have guided the work of scholars and policy makers for three generations.

The Professional Soldier identifies three issues that confront civil-military relations to this day: how to judge the political consequences of military conduct, how to solve problems of international relations while using less force, and how to strengthen civilian control of the military while preserving professional military autonomy. A vital resource for students and anyone interested in understanding the past, present, and future of the armed services.