The defense industry and the US government are inextricably linked
Close examination indicates that in the US, one branch of the bureaucracy buys weapons from another
Andrew Cockburn
Andrew Cockburn is Washington editor of Harper’s Magazine.
Tuesday
Tuesday
Will we stop Saudi Arabia developing a nuclear weapon?
The Saudis have poured money into other people’s bomb-making programs
Wednesday
Is Anduril Industries building the future of warfare?
The firm stands free of the embarrassments of over-priced and underperforming programs that burden the record of legacy defense giants
Friday
What do the Democrats believe in?
From our UK edition
29 min listen
Freddy Gray speaks to Aidan McLaughlin, the editor in chief of Mediaite, and Andrew Cockburn, the Washington editor of Harper’s Magazine, as the Democratic National Convention draws to a close. Kamala Harris has had a dramatic rise to the top of the democratic ticket, but what does she really believe in? And is opposition to
Thursday
How are Democrats reacting to the war in Israel?
From our UK edition
31 min listen
This week Freddy speaks to Andrew Cockburn, Washington editor of Harper’s Magazine, about America’s response to the developments in the Middle East. On the podcast they discuss the ‘squad’ (a section of Democrats who have been making pro-Palestinian noises), how America and Israel’s surveillance system allowed the attack to happen, and the importance of the
Thursday
Why Haiti’s humanitarian disaster is a problem for Biden
The Caribbean nation is losing the people necessary for a reconstruction of the state
Monday
The real reason Zelensky wants the West’s jets
Kyiv knows that manned aircraft won’t make a big difference on the battlefield
Thursday
Why economic sanctions never work
From our UK edition
The purpose of economic sanctions was aptly summarised back in 1960 by a US State Department official in a secret memo on Cuban sanctions ‘to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government.’ Twenty years later, the CIA concluded that ‘economic sanctions… have not met any of their objectives’. Worse, the measures strengthened the regime,
Thursday
Can Joe Biden channel John F. Kennedy over Ukraine?
From our UK edition
In a submission for the hotly contested prize for fatuous belligerence over Ukraine, Ben Wallace, UK secretary of state for defence, has spoken of a ‘whiff of Munich’ regarding negotiations to end the crisis. It may only be a matter of time before he, or some fellow tub-thumper, reaches into the historical locker and pulls
Thursday
The Pentagon’s overreaction to China’s new weapon tests
From our UK edition
Back in the 1960s, a senior Pentagon official would greet incoming recruits to his department with a cheery announcement: ‘Welcome to the world of strategic analysis, where we program weapons that don’t work to meet threats that don’t exist.’ The recent media excitement over Chinese tests of a hypersonic nuclear weapon which, anonymous Pentagon officials
Monday
How the US military got rich from Afghanistan
Trillions of dollars have flowed through the Pentagon’s war budgets in the last two decades
Tuesday
Putin’s secret weapon? The F-35
Why should anyone buy Lockheed Martin’s deficient jet?
Wednesday
Democrat blues: the leadership fears and loathes the grassroots
Party bosses appear to espouse the betrayal of their base as a core value
Saturday
Joe Biden’s fractious relationship with the truth
A short history
