The United States Quitting Syria Could Mean a Little Less War in the World
It’s rare when you can get hawkish Republican senators, media liberals, Islamic extremists, neoconservative pseudointellectuals, internet anarchists and retired military talking heads all on the same side, but U.S. president Donald Trump accomplished just that in late December 2018 in announcing the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria. There... Read more
Yemen Is Dying. We’re Killing It
The U.S. Senate’s Dec. 12, 2018 vote to compel the Pentagon to end its support for Saudi Arabia’s war in the Republic of Yemen was extraordinary. First, it is rare that the top political leadership of the world’s foremost war-maker — the United States — takes action against ongoing... Read more
Donald Trump’s Border Deployment Doesn’t Make American Safer
Journalists and human-rights advocates have begun asking when the U.S military will end its deployment of nearly 6,000 troops to the United States-Mexico border. The deployment began just prior to the Nov. 6, 2018 mid-term elections allegedly in response to the “threat” that a caravan of Central American refugees... Read more
There’s One Reason America Refuses to Hold Saudi Arabia Responsible for Murder
The apparent extrajudicial execution of Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey on Oct. 2, 2018 seemed like a watershed moment in the protracted push to hold the autocratic, theocratic Saudi regime accountable. The moment seems to have passed. The recent U.S. elections have overshadowed the story, and neither... Read more
America Is Winning in Afghanistan
October 2018 marked the 17th anniversary of the U.S. war in Afghanistan. Despite near unanimity when the war began, mainstream political opinion now seems to be that the United States has “lost” the war. “Seventeen years into the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan, Americans remain pessimistic about U.S. efforts... Read more
To Understand Venezuela’s Crisis, Look to the Past … and the CIA
On Sept. 11, 1973, a military junta headed by Gen. Augusto Pinochet completed a coup against the left-wing government of Chilean president Salvador Allende. Allende had given hope to many leftists around the world that socialism could come to power peacefully and coexist with liberal political institutions. The chaos... Read more
These Officials Let 9/11 Happen
Powerful people, whose job it was to protect the U.S. public, made choices that facilitated the 9/11 attacks, according to an explosive new book. The Watchdogs Didn’t Bark: The CIA, NSA and the Crimes of the War on Terror by John Duffy and Ray Nowosielski is a harrowing, compelling... Read more
How Likely Are Trade Wars to Become Shooting Wars?
The United States has experienced a wider and faster shift on basic questions of trade policy in less than two years than in the previous seven decades. From a broad bipartisan consensus in favor of liberalized free trade guaranteed by multilateral agreements — a consensus long contested by politically... Read more
‘Sorry to Bother You’ Is Boldly Anti-Imperialistic
Sorry to Bother You, an explicitly left-wing surrealist satire written, directed and produced by Oakland-based rapper Boots Riley has become one of the surprise box-office hits of 2018. Kicking off the year as one of the darlings of the Sundance Film Festival, the indie flick had one of 2018’s... Read more
China’s Belt and Road Will Change the World
As Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull prepares to visit the United States in mid-February 2018, media down under report that near the top of his agenda with U.S. president Donald Trump are plans for the two countries to counter a project most Americans have heard very little about. China’s... Read more

Andrew Dobbs

Environmental activist and writer based in Austin, Texas.