Much of the time, our wars may hardly exist for us, but in the age of celebrity, our generals do – exactly because they become celebrities. When Barack Obama picked Stanley McChrystal as his Afghan war commander, the general was greeted by the media as little short of...
America Detached from War
Kick Ass or Buy Gas?
Entering the Soviet Era in America
Mark it on your calendar. It seems we've finally entered the Soviet era in America. You remember the Soviet Union, now almost 20 years in its grave. But who gives it a second thought today? Even in its glory years that “evil empire” was sometimes referred to as “the...
Pax Ottomanica?
You know that something strange is happening when the usual crew of neocon critics takes out after Turkey – yes, Turkey! – a country that, as Inter Press Service's Jim Lobe points out, they long cultivated and supported as a key ally and supposedly model democracy in...
Iran’s Green Movement: One Year Later
Doubling Down in Afghanistan
Living in the 51st State (of Denial)
[Note for TomDispatch Readers: In recent years, this Web site has had a fine record when it comes to college commencement addresses, in part because I have a fondness for the form at its best, and in part because I think we should all have a chance to graduate into...
The American Century Is So Over
Being Muslim Is No Crime
How convenient that there are Muslims in America. How much harder it would be for the government to increase its power, while abridging more general liberties, if they didn't exist. A radical Islamic preacher, who also happens to be an American citizen, is now hiding...


