Scholars, advocates, and activists seeking to make the U.S. a more responsible global partner.
War & Peace

American Denial: Living in a Can’t-Do Nation

by | Jun 3, 2010

Back in 1966, the world was in debt to us. We were the high-tech brand you wanted to own. Here’s what I didn’t doubt then: that I would get a job. I didn’t spend much time thinking about my working future, because American affluence and the global dominance that went with it left me unshakably confident that, when I was ready, I would land somewhere effortlessly. So much of daily life would be predicated on, and tied to, the country’s economic power, cheap oil, staggering productivity, and an ability to act imperially on a global stage without seeming (to us Americans at least) like an imperial entity.

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The Nuclear Posture Attack

by | Jun 3, 2010

In a May 11 Washington Times editorial, Frank Gaffney, Ed Meese, Clifford May, and four additional coauthors—all of whom represent institutions that form part of the hawkish extreme of the Republican Party establishment—called for a “renewed adherence to the national security philosophy of President Ronald Reagan: ‘Peace Through Strength.’”

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The Trillion-Dollar Question

by | Jun 1, 2010

The full-page ads in The Washington Post seem so reasonable. The military contractor Pratt & Whitney has been arguing that America doesn’t need to spend $485 million to develop a second engine for the F-35 jet fighter. It’s a compelling argument. We’re in a serious economic crisis, so why on earth would we build another jet engine when the first one is sufficient?

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Making the Invisible Empire Visible

by | May 26, 2010

It is the singular misfortune of the residents of Guam and the Northern Marianas to have been born on tiny islands of great strategic value in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The consequence has been their colonial subordination for four centuries to a succession of empires: Spain, the United States, Germany, Japan, and, since the Pacific War, the US again.

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A State of Emergency in Paraguay: The Risks of Militarization

by | May 26, 2010

Since Apr. 26, a state of emergency has been in effect in five northern provinces of Paraguay, which represent a third of the nation’s territory. The government maintains that there is an active guerrilla presence in the region, although it has never been able to prove its existence. However, what is certain is that acts of violence have been committed by mafia organizations and the government is trying to resolve the situation through militarization.

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