Speaking of Books with Dr. Chung

Patrick Chung will discuss his new book Standardizing Empire, which explores how the US military remade the global economy during the Cold War. The period saw the first permanent overseas deployment of US troops and the creation of a global network of US military bases. These developments transformed the US military into the world's largest consumer of goods and services. US military contracts came to influence the production of countless everyday items like cast iron pipes and clothing as well as a range of essential services like transportation and construction. Focusing on the Korean War and the subsequent militarization of South Korea, Chung uses the term "military-industrial capitalism" to describe the new economic system centered on US military consumption. To illustrate the pervasive impact of military-industrial capitalism, Standardizing Empire traces the histories of three of the leading South Korean multinational corporations today: shipping company Hanjin, steelmaker POSCO, and car manufacturer Hyundai. These case studies explain not only how today's US-led capitalist world economy originated but also how the emergence of military-industrial capitalism facilitated both South Korea's "economic miracle" and the decline of US industrial might.

Patrick Chung is an associate professor of history at the University of Maryland. His research explores the pervasive impact of the US military on modern economic life. His first book, Standardizing Empire: The US Military, Korea, and the Origins of Military-Industrial Capitalism, explains how the US military remade the global economy during the Cold War. In addition to his book, Chung has published articles in Diplomatic History and Radical History Review as well as book chapters in two edited volumes, The Military and the Market and Korea and the World: New Frontier in Korean Studies.