Law
Rambo Politics from Reagan to Trump
Trump invokes a fantasy of poetic justice—positioning himself as Rambo, the avenger of American humiliation abroad.
Getting Counterinsurgency Wrong
Washington Post reporting exposed that U.S. operations in Afghanistan were horribly mismanaged, but even a well-run mission would have been doomed to fail.
Free Speech, Incorporated
A new, neoliberal interpretation of the First Amendment is undermining the regulatory state—and every labeling and advertising law is now in the crosshairs.
The Pervasive Power of the Settler Mindset
More than simple racism or discrimination, it is built upon violent elimination.
The President and the Blob
The barrage of attacks that followed Trump’s decision to reduce the U.S. military presence in Syria obscures the decades-long bankruptcy of the U.S. foreign policy establishment.
Halloween and Stranger Danger
Bizarre restrictions are levied against people on the sex offense registry on Halloween. But do they actually make children safer or simply reveal what we fear?
How Not to Argue for Tax Justice
Economists are taking aim at the unfairness of the U.S. tax system. But a just society won’t be won by arguing about taxes alone.
‘Flexible’ Family Leave Is Lousy Feminism
Men can still opt out of these policies. The state needs to take more coercive action.
The Making of the American Gulag
During the Cold War, the “police apparatus” was held up as a prime example of Soviet repression. Yet the United States ended up with its own carceral state.
Elitism Can’t Be Democratized
Admissions scandals are a symptom that what passes for egalitarian struggle now amounts to desperate individual attempts to ascend a steepening social hierarchy.
U.S. Judges Admit Enhanced Interrogation Is Torture
They also acknowledged, for the first time, that the grounds for torturing Abu Zubaydah—who was detained in the wake of September 11 and is still languishing in Guantánamo—were mistaken.
Perpetual Debt in the Silicon Savannah
Kenya’s poor were among the first to benefit from digital lending apps; now they call it slavery.
The Metastasis of the Misdemeanor System
With so many gradations of minor crimes, prejudice and inequality shapes prosecution.
Sleeping Through the Alarm
With virtually no democratic oversight and over 6,500 missiles in the United States alone, the use of nuclear weapons is almost inevitable.
Rethinking Birthright
We need a more just conception of citizenship—one that abolishes the distinction between “natural” and naturalized citizens.
Pleasure and Danger
The dichotomy between two kinds of feminism—one fighting for sexual liberation and one fighting for equality—is false.
The Sanctions Game
Donald Trump's “maximum pressure” strategy is doomed to fail, especially as tensions rise between Iran and the United States.
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