Author name: davidswanson

Not so much criminals as the foundations of the rule of law — that is what has infiltrated the United States from Latin America. That seems to be a major thread running through Greg Grandin’s wonderful new history of the hemisphere, America, América: A New History of the New World. It’s a book you can dive back into repeatedly, not to mention fantasize about someone compacting it into a short slideshow for the benefit of the President of the United States.

British settler colonists in North read more

By David Swanson​, Progressive Hub

Our society doesn’t always stand out for its values, but damn well does for its production values. There may be nothing more powerful in the world than a film — or even a commercial — with high production values. So I’m deeply appreciative when a well-made movie actually says something that needed saying, when you can watch the closing credits feeling wiser, rather than dirtier, more aware of what’s worst in the world and yet inspired read more

By World BEYOND War, May 24, 2025

World BEYOND War & Fashioning for Social Environmental Justice on Saturday, May 24 displayed the Global Peace Flag Project at The Ellipse in front of the White House in Washington, D.C.

The Global Peace Flag consists of canvases displaying artwork and messages of peace from around the world, including from the U.S., Cuba, Nepal, India, Congo, Egypt, Sri Lanka, and read more

World BEYOND War has just released its 2025 edition of Mapping Militarism, which uses 24 interactive maps to highlight the state of war and peace on our planet. Each map allows the viewer to spin the globe, zoom in and out, scroll the timeline back through the years, or switch from map view to list view. Try it.

In 2024, unbeknownst to many people living in luckier parts of the world, there were not just two or three wars happening, but 16 read more

According to world-leading war-profiteer Lockheed Martin, its Golden Dome, marketed for it by Donald Trump, “stands as a layered defense shield, safeguarding the American homeland with unwavering precision, ensuring the security and resilience of our nation.” But it doesn’t exactly “stand” anywhere in the present day or what some of us like to call “reality.” Rather, it’s read more

As Stacy Bannerman has been telling us for decades, the U.S. military has a domestic violence problem. So do some other — and I strongly suspect all — militaries.

The Pentagon has long known about the significantly increased risk of domestic violence by combat-exposed troops, yet has failed to properly inform military members or their families, and has violated laws mandating reporting on the problem.

This lack of transparency and breach of legal responsibilities has left thousands of spouses, read more

By Transnational Institute, May 19, 2025

David Swanson argues that if military spending made us safer, the world would be at peace — but instead, we see record-breaking budgets fueling endless war. He criticises NATO as a bloated, unaccountable war machine that thrives on militarism for profit, promoting ever-increasing arms spending while gutting essential services like healthcare and education. Swanson warns that U.S. media narratives, especially those painting Trump as anti-NATO, manipulate read more

I’ve grown used to random compliments from strangers. It’s normal now. I have to think back years to what it was like without that. And they’re not just compliments, but also expressions of solidarity, revelations of the existence of people who agree and aren’t afraid to say so — or maybe that I’ve just helped them to become unafraid to say so. These compliments, which can initiate discussions and deeper engagement, have nothing more to do with me than the shirt I’m wearing. And read more

By Transnational Institute, May 13, 2025

David Swanson, peace activist from World BEYOND War, argues that NATO is not a defensive alliance but the most powerful war-making and weapons-dealing machine in history. Far from protecting democracy, NATO has backed colonial powers and dictatorships, waged illegal wars, and acted as a read more

People sometimes get away with a certain kind of evil action precisely because most of us have a hard time imagining the levels of cruelty or cynicism involved.

Rahm Emanuel, booster of militarization in Japan as U.S. Ambassador, apologist for racist police violence and closer of schools in Chicago as Mayor, and Democratic Caucus Chairman in the U.S. House of so-called Representatives from 2007 to 2009, did something evil in January 2007. This was just after antiwar voters had handed his Democratic read more

The Trump clowns are planning to close U.S. embassies in Africa.

Good riddance, right?

Wrong.

They still plan to work on “coordinated counterterrorism operations” and “strategic extraction and trade of critical natural resources.”

They also still plan to maintain U.S. military bases across the continent. They’re shutting down all kinds of offices, but not Africom.

In U.S. culture and media, where it’s one’s duty to pretend that the military budget and everything that goes with it does read more