In this special edition of The Republic’s Conscience, Nicolin Decker advances The Moral Equation of War Doctrine by examining the structural transformation of modern warfare through President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s warning on the military–industrial complex—introducing how institutional systems shape the environment in which war authorization decisions are made.

This episode traces the shift from constrained, episodic warfare to the industrialization of war, where military production became embedded within national economic systems. Advances in manufacturing and technology enabled sustained conflict supported by integrated industrial capacity. After World War II, this capacity persisted as a permanent defense industrial base, linking government, industry, and research institutions.

From this transformation, the doctr ...