Ali A. Olomi: The history of the Taliban is crucial in understanding their success now – and also what might happen next
The rapid takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban left many surprised. A key to understanding what is happening now – and what might take place next – is looking at the past and how the Taliban came to prominence.
Andrew Bacevich: Answering the Armies of the Cheated
But No Questions about War Please!
Alfred McCoy: Washington’s Delusion of Endless World Dominion
China and the U.S. Struggle over Eurasia, the Epicenter of World Power
William Astore: A Ten-Point Plan to Make Joe Biden a Peace-Time President
“What could be more exceptional, more laudable, than seeking a lasting global peace?”
Andrew Bacevich: Reflections on Vietnam and Iraq
Virtually all Democrats and many in the media ascribe to Donald Trump full blame for the mess in which this country finds itself. Yet Americans would do well to temper their expectations of what supplanting Trumpism with Bidenism is likely to produce.
Rebecca Gordon: It’s Almost Twenty Years Since 9/11
Perhaps the horrors of 2020—the fires and hurricanes, Trump’s vicious attacks on democracy, the death, sickness, and economic dislocation caused by Covid-19—can force a real conversation about national security in 2021. Maybe this time we can finally ask whether trying to prop up a dying empire actually makes us—or indeed the world—any safer.
Medea Benjamin, Nicolas J.S. Davies: Ten Foreign Policy Fiascos Biden Can Start Fixing on Day One
Biden can immediately reverse some of Trump’s most disastrous decisions. And each one can set the stage for broader progressive foreign policy initiatives.
Karen J. Greenberg: While Rome Burns, Trump Gets What He’s Always Wanted
In unsettling ways, the crisis is working for him as previously untenable policy options are becoming essential to curtailing the coronavirus.
Khury Petersen-Smith: Ending the Myth That Trump Is Ending the Wars
Trump has sent more new troops to the Middle East than he’s bringing home from Afghanistan.
Madhav Joshi: There’s no easy exit for the US in Afghanistan
While the steps of a successful peace process do not need to unfold in a particular order, my research and that of others shows that there are several clear steps that any process should take to maximize the chances of success.
Mel Packer: A History of Deadly Meddling
In this essay, we hear a first-hand account from Mel Packer who was one of the Americans who visited Iran during the hostage crisis of 1980.
Sarah Anderson: Meet the Corporate War Profiteers Making a Killing on Trump’s Attacks on Iran
As long as the top executives of our privatized war economy can reap unlimited rewards, the profit motive for war in Iran—or anywhere—will persist.
Marc Jampole: Murdering Suleimani
Suleimani was not a “bad” man. Killing him was morally wrong, probably illegal and certainly a catalyst for much future bloodshed.
W.J. Astore: Anti-war Pragmatists and Pro-war Fantasists
What if peace is really based on pragmatism, and war on fantasy?
Vox Populi 