Covert Ops

Kissinger Merkel GMF

Henry Kissinger’s Malevolent Influence Will Be With Us Long After He’s Gone Henry Kissinger’s Malevolent Influence Will Be With Us Long After He’s Gone

Kissinger’s brand of realpolitik was delusional, amoral, and ruthless—and it persists today.

Sep 6, 2023 / Rebecca Gordon

The Senator Who Took On the CIA

The Senator Who Took On the CIA The Senator Who Took On the CIA

Frank Church and the committee that investigated the US intelligence agencies.

Sep 5, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Adam Hochschild

Photographs of Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger displayed during “Secrets of State: The Declassified History of the Chilean Dictatorship,” an exhibition at the Museum of Memory and Human Rights in Santiago, Chile.

Chile: The Secrets the US Government Continues to Hide Chile: The Secrets the US Government Continues to Hide

Fifty years after the military coup that brought down Salvador Allende and installed the Pinochet dicatorship, there are still top secret documents on the US role that must be dec...

Aug 31, 2023 / Peter Kornbluh

Wagner group mercenaries board a helicopter.

What the Failed Wagner Mutiny Means for Africa What the Failed Wagner Mutiny Means for Africa

Yevgeny Prigozhin’s mercenary army might have been disbanded in Russia, but in Africa—where the group props up dictators, extracts mineral wealth, and siphons off billions from leg...

Jul 12, 2023 / Nicolas Niarchos

Elliott Abrams looking pensive

Henry Kissinger, Elliott Abrams, and the Rot of American Foreign Policy Henry Kissinger, Elliott Abrams, and the Rot of American Foreign Policy

Our bipartisan elite is always willing to forgive war crimes by its made men.

Jul 7, 2023 / Jeet Heer

A sculpture called “Anything to Say,” which features life-sized bronze figures of whistleblowers (left-right) Edward Snowden, Julian Assange, and Chelsea Manning, is unveiled at Parliament Square, London, during a protest for Assange’s release from prison.

Julian Assange and Arnon Milchan: The Lopsided Scales of American Justice Julian Assange and Arnon Milchan: The Lopsided Scales of American Justice

One has boasted of espionage. The other revealed massive government wrongdoing. So why is the whistleblower in jail?

Jun 27, 2023 / James Bamford

Don DeLillo’s Cold Wars

Don DeLillo’s Cold Wars Don DeLillo’s Cold Wars

His 1980s novels take the story of America’s postwar years, usually seen as a triumphal rise to perpetual dominance, and converts it into one about a long and chaotic decline.

Jun 26, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Siddhartha Deb

The CIA’s New Nord Stream Narrative Is Terrifying

The CIA’s New Nord Stream Narrative Is Terrifying The CIA’s New Nord Stream Narrative Is Terrifying

Should we believe American officials who claim they can’t stop Ukraine from reckless escalation?

Jun 20, 2023 / Jeet Heer

Retired Marine Gen. James Cartwright arrives for a hearing at US District Court, October 17, 2016 in Washington, DC. Cartwright was charged with making false statements during a federal investigation.

If Donald Trump Went to Jail for Violating the Espionage Act, He’d Be an Exception If Donald Trump Went to Jail for Violating the Espionage Act, He’d Be an Exception

It’s only whistleblowers who do hard time. Generals and high officials typically get just a slap on the wrist.

Jun 20, 2023 / James Bamford

NSA surveillance protesters, organized by the “Stop Watching Us” coalition, march from Union Station to the US Capitol in 2013.

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

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