The purpose of deterrence is to prevent a nuclear war from happening. It depends entirely on producing a psychological impression in the mind of the enemy that you are a very tough guy - so tough you’re ready to commit suicide and drag the enemy down with you.
We humans have a choice: we can succumb to carbon’s gravitational pull and so suffer from increasingly harsh planetary conditions, or resist and avoid the most deadly consequences of climate change.
The US launches drone strikes against groups or individuals whose behavior simply fits a “suspect” category: young men of military age carrying weapons, for instance (in areas where carrying a weapon may be the norm no matter who you are).
Don't for a second imagine we are heading for an era of renewable energy.
It hardly matters under what label - including American “safety” and “security” - such a governing power is built; sooner or later, the architecture will determine the acts, and it will become more tyrannical at home and more extreme abroad. Thank your lucky stars that Edward Snowden made the choi
Here are five things that I imagine were on his mind (they would have been on mine) as that plane took off.
It would be foolish to trust the authorities to keep to honest-to-goodness police work when they so easily take the low road into straight-out, unwarranted espionage and instigation. Tom Engelhardt invites Todd Gitlin to look into what we do know.
