Daniel Mason Just look at a few of the stats for America (USA): 1) We dominate a continent which is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, and on the east by the Atlantic Ocean. Oh, and throw in the added benefit of the Caribbean Sea/ Gulf of Mexico to the south. To the…
Stuart Lyle A Constitutional crisis has come… and gone – but few have noticed. Americans have great confidence in their form of government. From an early age they are taught – and, of course, they come to believe – that the Constitution forms the unbreakable backbone of an exceptional democratic system, unmatched in the world.…
W.J. Astore I recently received an update from the National Priorities Project reminding me of this startling fact: “The president announced last week that American troops will remain in Afghanistan beyond the planned withdrawal at the end of 2016. This is a devastating blow. We’ve already spent $716 billion and counting on the war in…
W.J. Astore I read the news today, oh boy. President Obama has decided to keep thousands of U.S. troops in Afghanistan until 2017, effectively kicking the war to the next president. According to the New York Times, “The Obama administration sees the choice to slow down the United States’ Afghan exit as the best of…
Peter Van Buren Editor’s Note: TCP is especially proud to offer an original article by Peter Van Buren, author of We Meant Well, a compelling account of U.S.-led rebuilding efforts in post-invasion Iraq. Van Buren, who worked closely with American troops in Iraq, knows the bloody nature of war, which makes him doubly aware of…
W.J. Astore You read it here first: the fatal flaw in U.S. foreign policy is training wheels. Yes, those supplemental wheels you add to your child’s bike when she’s first trying to learn how to balance herself as she pedals. How so? Listen closely to America’s leaders as they talk about helping Iraqis, Afghans, and…
Dan Mason What follows is a subject for open debate. It is a very serious subject, and I have had trouble solving the dilemma to my personal satisfaction. Please feel free to offer other conclusions because this really perplexes me. Here it is: Why does US foreign policy/military interventions appear to be completely inept? I…
Nile Stanton At the reliably up-to-date and highly informative website Breaking Defense, Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. reported that on June 16th, Lt Gen James Kowalski, Deputy Commander of the US Strategic Command, told a group, “We have to recognize that there are two authoritarian nuclear-armed regimes [China and Russia] dominating the Eurasian landmass, and they…
W.J. Astore Here are a few excerpts from my latest article at TomDispatch.com. I urge you to read the entire article here. Thank you! War on drugs. War on poverty. War in Afghanistan. War in Iraq. War on terror. The biggest mistake in American policy, foreign and domestic, is looking at everything as war. When a war…
James Keye I created this list of “American Myths” 25 years ago thinking that some significant part of the people would begin to understand them over time. What seems to be happening is that the country is dividing into those who cling with increasing aggression to these myths as others realize the falseness of them.…
The Contrary Perspective 