Cowboy Stupid

Matthew Norton defends bad grammar and argues against stupidity.

The Marshall Plan Mystique

The war in Iraq had not even begun when public discussion began on the rebuilding of Iraq by the US. Is this to be another “not the Marshall plan”? David Ekbladh calls for rethinking the approach to so-called Marshall Plans.

War is a Remix: Organized violence from blood sacrifice to cyberattacks

This article applies the concept of remix from media and communication studies to an analysis of the history and transformation of war. From this perspective, each iteration of war can be seen to reference and recombine existing concepts, strategies, and tactics, a process which seems to correspond with the parallel development of technology.

Under the Guise of Protecting Human Rights and Establishing Democracy: US Intervention in Sri Lanka

The paper argues that strong US intervention in Sri Lanka after the end of the island’s armed conflict in 2009 is not based on altruistic efforts to protect human rights as presented in mainstream sources, but stems from deepening US geopolitical and ideological interests in the Indian Ocean region. Keywords: Sri Lanka-US relations, US foreign policy, North-South relations, Neoliberal policy, interventionism, Indian Ocean, US-China relations