International Politics and Economy

By Kevin A. Young, UMass Amherst (The Conversation) – Donald Trump’s first term as president saw some of the largest mass protests seen in the U.S. in over 50 years, from the 2017 Women’s March to the 2020 protests after George Floyd’s murder. Things feel different this time around. Critics seem quieter. Some point to […]

Corruption

Cyberpunk Nation: How Donald Trump’s America Is Being Hacked by White Nationalism

Juan Cole

Here is my column this week for Tom Engelhardt’s Tomdispatch at The Nation Institute. Do check in on his poignant and insightful introduction. ( Tomdispatch.com ) – The opening weeks of the second Trump administration have produced daily headlines that read — no, this is not hyperbole! — like science fiction. The spectacle of a […]

Corruption

Ethical Concerns Surround Sen. Joni Ernst’s Relationships With Top Military Officials Who Lobbied Her Committee

ProPublica

By Robert Faturechi | – ( ProPublica ) – Earlier this year, the Air Force revealed that the general who oversaw its lobbying before Congress had inappropriate romantic relationships with five women, including three who worked on Capitol Hill. Maj. Gen. Christopher Finerty’s colleagues told investigators the relationships were “highly inappropriate” as they could give […]

Democracy

What the US can learn from South Koreans who stopped an Authoritarian Power-Grab

Waging Nonviolence

Jungmin Choi As Elon Musk and his DOGE team set about dismantling government agencies, many Americans expected a strong response from Congressional Democrats. Instead, party leaders offered weak statements and little resistance to being refused entry to the very agencies they are tasked with overseeing. This lack of urgency amid what’s being called an administrative […]

Far Right

The growing Influence of Israel’s Ultranationalist Settler Movement

The Conversation

By Leonie Fleischmann, City St George’s, University of London (The Conversation) – Days after taking office, as he issued executive order after executive order to change the political face of America, Donald Trump also turned his attention to the war in Gaza. His proposal that Gaza should be cleared out and Palestinians should be relocated […]

censorship

Iran: Unchecked Repression of Dissent

The Conversation

Human Rights Watch – (Beirut) – Iranian authorities have continued their brutal, targeted repression even though the new Iranian president has promised change, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2025. The authorities have targeted human rights defenders, women, ethnic and religious minorities, and families of those arrested or killed in the 2022 protests. For […]

Corruption

The Moment Trump Won the 2024 election, the 8 Richest Men in the World gained another $64 billion

Tomdispatch

By Liz Theoharis and William D. Hartung ( Tomdispatch.com ) – With the return of Donald Trump to the White House, advocates for peace, social justice, racial and economic equality, fair immigration policies, climate renewal, trans rights, and other movements for change are bracing for hard times. The new administration will be doggedly opposed to […]

Nonviolence

Can nonviolent Struggle defeat a Dictator? This Database emphatically says Yes

George Lakey

The Global Nonviolent Action Database details some 40 cases of mass movements overcoming tyrants through strategic nonviolent campaigns. ( Waging Nonviolence ) – With Donald Trump set to take office after a fear-mongering campaign that reignited concerns about his desire to become a dictator, a reasonable question comes up: Can nonviolent struggle defeat a tyrant? There […]

Democracy

What I Learned after the End of History

Andrew J. Bacevich

( Tomdispatch.com ) – “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” So declared Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Ah, if only it had proved to be so. Although my respect for MLK is enduring, when it comes to that upward-trending curve connecting past to present, his view of human […]