Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of <i>Armed Forces &amp; Society</i>: An Introduction

This commentary introduces the issue that celebrates Armed Forces &amp; Society ( AF&amp;S) at 50. In 1974, during the Cold War, Morris Janowitz launched an international and interdisciplinary journal that helped define a new scholarly field of study. We show how the articles of AF&amp;S reflect the Janowitz’s goals by illustrating how journal content responded to the dynamic societal and security environments. We explore changes in the publishing environment through journal metrics and transformations in publishing technology. We then introduce the articles and commentary that fill the 50th anniversary issue. Two articles take an historical perspective focusing on our parent organization the Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces and Society at 70 and description of AF&amp;S articles across the 50 years. Finally, we provide an insightful commentary on 10 impactful articles that demonstrate ways AF&amp;S contributed to our collective understanding of the intersection of military and society.