National Security State

(Tomdispatch.com) – When you think about it, Earth is a relatively modest-sized planet — about 25,000 miles in circumference at the Equator, with a total surface area of 197 million square miles, almost three-quarters of which is water. It’s not so hard, if you’re in a certain frame of mind (as American officials were after […]

Donald Trump

The Irrelevance of Trump: America was a Plutocratic Nat’l Security State and Still Is

Andrew J. Bacevich

Boston ( Tomdispatch.com) – Donald Trump’s tenure as the 45th U.S. president may last another few weeks, another year, or another 16 months. However unsettling the prospect, the leaky vessel that is the S.S. Trump might even manage to stay afloat for a second term. Nonetheless, recent headline-making revelations suggest that, like some derelict ship […]

Climate Change

Is America Sclerotic or still Youthful Enough to take on Imperial Presidency and Climate Change?

Tom Engelhardt

There was a period in my later life when I used to say that, from the age of 20 to my late sixties, I was always 40 years old; I was, that is, an old young man and a young old one. Tell that to my legs now. Of course, there’s nothing faintly strange in […]

National Security State

For 40 Million US Working Poor, Trillion-Dollar Foreign Military Adventures Don’t Bring Security

Rajan Menon

(TomDispatch) – So effectively has the Beltway establishment captured the concept of national security that, for most of us, it automatically conjures up images of terrorist groups, cyber warriors, or “rogue states.” To ward off such foes, the United States maintains a historically unprecedented constellation of military bases abroad and, since 9/11, has waged wars […]

National Security State

The Escalating Tragedy of American Imperial Overstretch

Tom Engelhardt

New York (Tomdispatch.com) – Think of it as the all-American version of the human comedy: a great power that eternally knows what the world needs and offers copious advice with a tone deafness that would be humorous, if it weren’t so grim. If you look, you can find examples of this just about anywhere. Here, […]

National Security State

When “Infinite War” becomes a Gravy Train in the United States of Amnesia

Andrew J. Bacevich

Boston (Tomdispatch.com) – “The United States of Amnesia.” That’s what Gore Vidal once called us. We remember what we find it convenient to remember and forget everything else. That forgetfulness especially applies to the history of others. How could their past, way back when, have any meaning for us today? Well, it just might. Take […]

National Security State

Terrorizing ourselves Silly: Surreal Pentagon Nightmares underpin $700 bn Budget

Nick Turse

New York ( Tomdispatch.com) – For almost 20 years, U.S. drone warfare was largely one-sided. Unlike Afghans and Yemenis, Iraqis and Somalis, Americans never had to worry about lethal robots hovering overhead and raining down missiles. Until, that is, one appeared in the skies above Florida. But that’s a story for later. For now, let’s […]

Donald Trump

Should Trump Have the Discretion to Murder at Will? His Drones Are at It

Rebecca Gordon

San Francisco (Tomdispatch.com) – They are like the camel’s nose, lifting a corner of the tent. Don’t be fooled, though. It won’t take long until the whole animal is sitting inside, sipping your tea and eating your sweets. In countries around the world — in the Middle East, Asia Minor, Central Asia, Africa, even the […]

Militarization

America’s Forever Wars as Spectator Sport

contributors

By Andrew J. Bacevich | ( Tomdispatch.com) | – – The purpose of all wars, is peace. So observed St. Augustine early in the first millennium A.D. Far be it from me to disagree with the esteemed Bishop of Hippo, but his crisply formulated aphorism just might require a bit of updating. I’m not a […]