The Trump Effect

This is what I love about the presidency of Donald J. Trump – this news story: “CIA director met with DNC Hack Conspiracy Theorist at Trump’s Urging.” Isn’t it magical how a 40-year veteran of the National Security Agency, formerly head of its World Geopolitical and...

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The Madness of Deterrence

At some point in the near or semi-distant future, one way or another, Mr. Trump will have departed public office. For many reasons, perhaps most of all because we managed (if we do manage) to avoid nuclear war during his tenure, we will feel relief. But we may also...

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Sadism in Afghanistan

For the past 16 years, the American war machine has been acting like a two-tiered sadist in Afghanistan. While facilitating the Kabul government’s destruction of the communities it oversees there, our military apparatus has also harmed the U.S. itself by spilling...

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Business as Usual at the Pentagon

The revolving door between major defense contractors and the Pentagon is spinning ever more rapidly, notes FP: Foreign Policy. Here’s a telling report from last week: McCain says enough, but does he mean it? During a hearing Thursday to vet several Trump...

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Will the Saudi People Remain Bystanders?

Most top-down anti-corruption campaigns are fig leaves for power struggles. In societies like China and Saudi Arabia, where corruption is endemic, the losers are accused of corruption with the silly implication that the accusers (winners) are clean and genuinely...

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