TomDispatch

In October 2001, Tom Engelhardt started TomDispatch as a casual email list to share insights and articles from around the world with a small circle of friends and peers. By November 2002, it was officially named and became part of the Nation Institute (now known as the Type Media Center), transforming into an online publication designed to offer a consistent alternative to mainstream media narratives. Over the past 18 years, TomDispatch has consistently published three original articles each week, covering a wide range of topics such as America's approach to warfare, ongoing conflicts, economic disparity, and the climate crisis. It has also been a trusted source for various platforms, including Alternet, Common Dreams, the Nation magazine, and Salon.

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Shock and Awe

1 month ago | tomdispatch.com | Tom Engelhardt

Making (Non)Sense of Donald Trump, or the Success of FailureYes, “shock and awe” is back in the second age of Donald Trump. His border czar, Tom Homan, used that very phrase to describe border policy from day one of the new administration and, whether the president has actually said it or not, it’s now regularly in headlines, op-eds, and so much else. If you remember, it was the phrase used, in all its glory, to describe America’s massive bombing and invasion of Iraq in 2003.
A New Military-Industrial Complex Arises

2 months ago | tomdispatch.com | Michael T. Klare

The Secret War Within the PentagonLast April, in a move generating scant media attention, the Air Force announced that it had chosen two little-known drone manufacturers — Anduril Industries of Costa Mesa, California, and General Atomics of San Diego — to build prototype versions of its proposed Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), a future unmanned plane intended to accompany piloted aircraft on high-risk combat missions.
End Warness, Not Wokeness

Jan 9, 2025 | tomdispatch.com | William Astore

Ten Thoughts on Curbing the Worst Excesses of U.S. MilitarismAs President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take America back (again!) to greatness, there’s been much talk of Elon Musk’s new DOGE, or Department of Government Efficiency, and whether it will dare tackle Pentagon spending in useful ways. Could it curb rampant fraud, waste, and abuse within military contracting? Will the Pentagon finally pass a financial audit after seven consecutive failed attempts?
Finding Hope

Jan 7, 2025 | tomdispatch.com | Rebecca Gordon

In the Negative Spaces of the Trump Era The expression “punch-drunk,” Google informs me, means “stupefied by or as if by a series of heavy blows to the head.” Google’s Oxford Language entry then offers a not-terribly-illuminating example of the term’s use: “I feel a little punch-drunk today.” Right now, a better one might be something like: “After November 5, 2024, a lot of people have been feeling more than a little punch-drunk.” Learning on the night of November 5th that Donald Trump had...
[Un]Happy New Year

Jan 5, 2025 | tomdispatch.com | Andy Kroll

Trump Two Is a Formula for… Yes!… Hell on EarthHonestly, as 2025 begins, isn’t it finally time to reimagine American history? So, what do you think of this: George Trump, Abraham Trump, Ulysses S. Trump, Franklin D. Trump, Dwight D. Trump, John F. Trump, Lyndon B. Trump, and even Richard M. and George W. Trump. And yes, of course, on January 20th, Donald J. Trump (of all people) will once again be president of these distinctly (dis-)United States of America.
The World’s Four Legacy Empires Going Down

Dec 22, 2024 | tomdispatch.com | Andy Kroll

Through a Glass Darkly into a Future of Epochal ChangeSome 2,000 years ago, an itinerant preacher, Saul of Tarsus, was writing to a wayward congregation in Corinth, Greece. Curiously enough, his words still capture the epochal change that may await us just over history’s horizon. “For now we see in a glass, darkly,” he wrote.
Once Upon a Time, a Nation of Laws

Dec 19, 2024 | tomdispatch.com | Andy Kroll

From the Global War on Terror to Donald Trump’s Second TermPost-election America finds itself in a panic. Voices from across a wide political spectrum warn that the country stands on the precipice of a potentially unprecedented and chaotic disregard for the laws, norms, and policies upon which its stability and security have traditionally relied.
Trump Confronts a Rising China

Dec 17, 2024 | tomdispatch.com | Andy Kroll

Can He Manage U.S.-China Relations Without Precipitating World War III? Gaza, Haiti, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Russia, Syria, Ukraine, and Venezuela: President-elect Donald Trump will face no shortage of foreign-policy challenges when he assumes office in January. None, however, comes close to China in scope, scale, or complexity.
Murdering Eagles to Save the Climate?

Dec 15, 2024 | tomdispatch.com | Andy Kroll

The Downside of Wyoming’s Wind Energy BoomLike many roads that cut through Wyoming, the highway into the town of Rawlins is a long, winding one surrounded by rolling hills, barbed wire fences, and cattle ranches. I’d traveled this stretch of Wyoming many times. Once during a dangerous blizzard, another time during a car-rattling thunderstorm, the rain so heavy my windshield wipers couldn’t keep pace with the deluge.
Keeping TomDispatch Alive

Dec 13, 2024 | tomdispatch.com | Andy Kroll

In Deeply Troubled TimesDear TomDispatch Reader,Two years ago, when I was putting together the end-of-year plea I always post to keep TomDispatch going in a tough world, I wrote: “This time around though, I have to wonder whether it may be the last such missive I’ll write.” Well, as it happens (thanks to the generosity of the readers of this website), it wasn’t.