Mapping Militarism 2021

By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, May 3, 2021

This year’s annual update to World BEYOND War’s Mapping Militarism project uses a completely new mapping system developed by our Technology Director Marc Eliot Stein. We think it does a better job than ever of displaying the data of warmaking and peacemaking on maps of the world. And it makes use of new data reporting on the latest trends.

When you visit the Mapping Militarism site, you read more

The Fateful Choice: Nuclear Arms Race or Nuclear Weapons-Free World

The recent announcement by the British government that it plans a 40 percent increase in the number of nuclear weapons it possesses highlights the escalation of the exceptionally dangerous and costly nuclear arms race.

After decades of progress in reducing nuclear arsenals through arms control and disarmament agreements, all the nuclear powers are once again busily upgrading their nuclear weapons capabilities.  For read more

Ground the Drones

By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, May 2, 2021

There are a number of hurdles to clear before you can get people to support banning armed drones or surveillance drones. One is the existence of good drones. It seems silly, but it is the number one cause of failures to pass local resolutions against drones. Unlike some of the hurdles, this one is fact-based. It’s simple-minded, but fact-based. There really are drones for fire and rescue and science research and toys and lovers of technology read more

Tomgram: Engelhardt, War Is Peace, Peace Is War

This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here.

American-Style War ’til the End of Time? A Lifetime “at War” By

Here’s the strange thing in an ever-stranger world: I was born in July 1944 in the midst of a devastating world war. That war ended in August 1945 with the atomic obliteration of two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, by the most devastating bombs in history up to that moment, given the sweet code names “Little Boy” and “Fat Man.”

I was the littlest of boys at read more

Tomgram: John Feffer, America Hacks Itself

This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here.

Let me try to put this in context: it was just months ago that I gave up my old flip phone and reluctantly got an iPhone. And though I can indeed make calls on it and use it to check how far I’ve walked each day, footstep by footstep, it’s remarkable how much I can’t do. Don’t ask me to send you a photo of anything or check my email on it or hail an Uber with it. In read more

Talk World Radio: Sam Perlo-Freeman on the Brutal Weapons Dealing by the UK

Talk World Radio is recorded as audio and video on Riverside.fm. Here is this week’s video and all the videos on Youtube.

Dr. Sam Perlo-Freeman is a Research Coordinator at Campaign Against Arms Trade in the UK, where he has focused on UK military spending and procurement, UK arms sales to Saudi and the war in Yemen, and global arms trade to countries in conflict. Previously, Sam worked at the World Peace Foundation on corruption in the international arms trade, and before that at the Stockholm read more

Amid Widespread Disease, Death, and Poverty, the Major Powers Increased Their Military Spending in 2020

Last year was a terrible time for vast numbers of people around the globe, who experienced not only a terrible disease pandemic, accompanied by widespread sickness and death, but severe economic hardship.

Even so, the disasters of 2020 were not shocking enough to jolt the world’s most powerful nations out of their traditional preoccupation with enhancing their armed might, for once again they raised their military spending to new heights.

During 2020, world read more

EcoAction, Bovine Feces, and 8 Things to Do

By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, April 25, 2021

The Earth is dying. President Biden intends to ask various money lenders to put poor countries deeper into debt to help. OK. Better than nothing, right?

He also intends to spend $1.2 billion on climate aid to poor countries. Hey, that’s awesome, right? Imagine what kind of solar panels and new windows your house could have for $1.2 billion. Only problem, of course, is that the world is larger than one house, and just for perspective (not to read more