US Foreign Policy Has an Extinction Agenda US Foreign Policy Has an Extinction Agenda
As the world loses time to act, US elites are working to dominate the remains of a ruined planet.
Sep 5, 2023 / Column / Spencer Ackerman
This Is How Trump Becomes a Dictator This Is How Trump Becomes a Dictator
The former president doesn’t want to destroy the security state. He wants to bend it to his will.
Aug 3, 2023 / Column / Spencer Ackerman
Affirmative Action—but Only for Military Academies Affirmative Action—but Only for Military Academies
In a footnote, the Supreme Court directs Black and brown advancement away from civilian universities and into a uniform.
Jun 29, 2023 / Spencer Ackerman
Daniel Ellsberg’s Heroism Began With Listening to the Anti-War Left Daniel Ellsberg’s Heroism Began With Listening to the Anti-War Left
The whistleblower confronted his complicity in the Vietnam-era war machine. His successors within it prefer to show up at Henry Kissinger’s gala.
Jun 16, 2023 / Forever Wars / Spencer Ackerman
The FBI Is Back to Its Old Habits: Illegally Spying on Protesters The FBI Is Back to Its Old Habits: Illegally Spying on Protesters
There should be no future for Section 702, an enduring vestige of the post-9/11 security state. To kill it, all Congress has to do is do nothing.
Jun 9, 2023 / Column / Spencer Ackerman
Why the Right Embraces Military-Veteran Vigilantes Why the Right Embraces Military-Veteran Vigilantes
The right is often misconstrued as anti-war. In reality, it wants to wage its war on American soil—against people whose Americanness it won’t recognize.
May 19, 2023 / Forever Wars / Spencer Ackerman
Emptying Guantánamo Is Not the Same as Closing Guantánamo Emptying Guantánamo Is Not the Same as Closing Guantánamo
Unless the post-9/11 forever prison is permanently shuttered, it’s only a matter of time before one of Biden’s successors takes up Trump’s unrealized call to fill it back up with “...
May 2, 2023 / Column / Spencer Ackerman
The Unlearned Lessons From the War in Iraq The Unlearned Lessons From the War in Iraq
You don’t have to reflect on a war if that war doesn’t end, let alone pay reparations for your crimes.
Mar 17, 2023 / Column / Spencer Ackerman
The CIA’s Failures The CIA’s Failures
The history of American intelligence-gathering is rife with incompetence, dysfunction and contempt toward legislative oversight.
Jun 26, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Spencer Ackerman
Training Iraq’s Death Squads Training Iraq’s Death Squads
The Army's plan to professionalize Iraq's police could backfire, as militia-infiltrated squads become more effective killers.
May 17, 2007 / Feature / Spencer Ackerman