The action in Executive Orders takes place in the near future, when the United States has eliminated most of its nuclear missiles and has trimmed back its military budget. In Debt of Honor (1994), the predecessor to Executive Orders, the budget trimming has perilously weakened America's ability to defend its people and its interests and an international conspiracy starts a war between the United States and Japan—a war the United States nearly loses. In Executive Orders, America's enemies still perceive the United States as too weakened to respond to military crises; they try to create enough crises that the United States cannot respond to them all. In this portrayal of America as too weak to respond to its enemies, Executive Orders is cautioning its readers— warning them that the post-Cold War enthusiasm for trimming the size of the military can go too far, leaving...