Miriam Pemberton is an Associate Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies. Formerly she directed its Peace Economy Transitions Project, focusing on helping to build the foundations of a postwar economy at the federal, state and local levels.

With Lawrence Korb, she headed the annual Task Force on “A Unified Security Budget for the United States,” which examined the balance of spending on military and non-military security tools and argued for a rebalanced security budget. She also headed a team that produced three “Military vs. Climate Security” reports comparing federal spending on the two security domains, and arguing for a shift of security resources toward mitigating climate change.

With William Hartung, now of the Quincy Institute, she co-edited Lessons from Iraq: Avoiding the Next War (Paradigm Publishers, 2008).

As an Associate Fellow, she has published Six Stops on the National Security Tour: Rethinking Warfare Economies (Routledge, 2022). It provides an overview of the Military Industrial Complex and its means of perpetuating itself. And through portraits of six military-dependent communities across the U.S. it demonstrates how redirecting our militarized foreign and industrial policy toward climate security can help communities like these become part of the solution to the climate crisis.

She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.

 

Latest

Listen To The World A Minute, Please

A majority of Americans and the world want a change in Bush’s failed foreign policy.

To improve security, follow the money

A unified security budget is the first step towards fixing our nation’s distorted security priorities.

Earth to Bush: Iraq isnt South Korea

The Iraq-South Korea connection: a warning flag, and a chance to open up debate on U.S. “occupations” around the globe.

And You Thought the Cold War Was Gone For Good?

The administration’s plan to install anti-ballistic missiles in Poland is being greeted with healthy skepticism is Congress.

A Unified Security Budget for the United States, FY 2008

As Congress works to balance the budget and find a solution to the Iraq crisis it must also focus on a different kind of budget balancing.

The Plane That Won’t Die…Or Fly

Fixing a broken budget to repair a broken foreign policy.

A Cluster Bomb Treaty: Again, It’s the U.S. v. the World

The cluster bombs endangering civilians in southern Lebanon were “Made in the U.S.A.”.

Our State Among States

The Iraq War has become the face of the United States around the world and this will haunt Bush during his State of the Union address.

Wrangling Over Arms Sales to China

The U.S. gets one right? The administration opposes lifting the arms embargo on China.

Arms Trade Treaty: Let the U.S. Opt Out for Now

We might get a better treaty if the U.S. sits this one out for now.

3D Security

Foreign aid, civil military integration, military, AID, diplomacy, development, Defense Department, State Department, security

Leveraging "3D" Security: From Rhetoric to Reality

Knitting defense, development, and diplomacy together–the ups and the downsides of a real work in progress.

Poll: Fewer Guns, More Talk

FPIF’s new department War and Peace looks at the big picture of how to build a more secure world. In the debut article, Poll: Fewer Guns, More Talk, department editor Miriam Pemberton reports that the votes are already in and the winner is a new foreign policy.

Militarizing the Border While the World Burns

It’s fair to ask what the makers of exotic fighter aircraft know about wall building that a garden-variety American construction company doesn’t.

We Need Action on Real Threats At Home

The people of this country need and deserve not partisan spinning, but action on the real threats close to home.

If It Looks Like a Landmine, Smells Like a Landmine…

The Pentagon claims to have built a better landmine that targets soldiers and spares civilians. These two leaders of the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines say: Back to the drawing board.

Is This Any Way to Secure a Country?

Congress should consider the range of security tools we have–tools of offense , defense and prevention–as a whole.

A Unified Security Budget for the United States, 2007

A Unified Security Budget for the United States asks many of the questions about the security budget that members of Congress and the administration are unwilling to address while making bold recommendations for reform.

Fudging The Numbers

Before the Bush administration kicks things off with its 2007 budget request in early February, it seems bent on proving that, in the fantasy department, it can go head-to-head with Hollywood.