The horrific American record of torture at CIA “black sites” across the planet and at Guantánamo Bay has long been at the very heart of America’s disastrous war on terror. Sadly, this toxic legacy continues.
The Biden administration has tried to strike a balance between helping Ukraine expel Russian invaders and avoiding a potentially catastrophic showdown with the Kremlin. That balance will become increasingly difficult to maintain in 2023.
The US has projected itself as the global leader of democracy through its powerful mass media, huge economy and lavish military expenditures. A closer look reveals that the country requires extensive reform before it can claim to be a true democracy. Democratic reform should begin with the presidency.
My father fought in World War II. Since then, the US has never won a war and the country has invested ever increasing taxpayer dollars into the military. In this piece, I explore great-power warfare since 1945 and wonder what lessons my dad might have drawn from it. He might have suggested: If you're a "great" power, don't go to war!
Passing an ever higher defense budget has become something of a ritual in the US Congress. With ever-increasing military expenditure, Americans should now be asking why the Pentagon budget is so high. One concerning answer may be that the Pentagon is now girding for mid-century wars. And that almost inevitably means an accelerating arms race in the decades to come.
Despite his many legal troubles, Donald Trump continues to be popular and could even return to the White House. He still presents a serious threat to American democracy.
Aside from the two years of 1998 and 2001, the US federal government has been running an annual fiscal deficit for the past 50 years. These deficits are financed by issuing debt. Until recently, domestic and foreign investors have bought this debt. As their appetite for additional purchases wanes, who will buy American bonds going forward?
This Global South is deep in debt, desperate, and facing climate horrors almost beyond imagining. Remarkably, Latin America is turning to green policies. The US must support its southern neighbors to transition from an extractive economy to a green one.
