Author: David Swanson

By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, March 8, 2025

According to Columbia Magazine, published by Columbia University’s Office of Alumni and Development, but ultimately named for a brutal imperialist mercenary, in 1933 while Nazis in Germany were burning books by Jews, Columbia’s president — and future Nobel Peace Prize recipient — Nicholas Murray Butler “welcomed Hans Luther, the German read more

By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, March 7, 2025

It’s with a very heavy heart that I watch Europe imitate the militarism of the United States, moving massive resources from human and environmental needs to weapons, celebrating proposals from good liberal civic groups to steal money from Russia and dump it into more weapons, cutting deals to have the ingredients for more weapons dug out of your soil by a distant empire that routinely spits on your head, moving nuclear weapons around and across read more

By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, March 4, 2025

On Monday I interviewed a member of the Executive Committee of AIPAC. I asked him how he could defend and promote apartheid and genocide. He was not a legal witness; I could not order him not to change the subject. Still, he provided pretty clear (if very weak) excuses for genocide, which I think can be broken up into five types.

1. Others have done it.

The U.S. killed Native Americans, he pointed out. The U.S. starved Germans and Japanese. Israel labels half read more

You voted for Trump and are being deported, or losing your job, or paying more for eggs. Now you’re the subject of so-called journalism about your “buyer’s remorse.” This is an extremely weak version of the sort of transformation that is needed — the sort of Saul-to-Paul awakening, forehead-slapping, I’ve-been-an-idiot, redemption-seeking metamorphosizing needed from millions of people, Trump voters and otherwise. For one thing it’s all still selfish and short-sighted. For another read more

AUDIO:

Talk World Radio is recorded on Zoom.

Here is this week’s video and all the videos on Youtube.

AUDIO:

Talk World Radio is recorded on Zoom.

Here is this week’s video and all the videos on Youtube.

By Pacifist Barricade, February 22, 2025

The political scene in the United States has become a crucible of radical transformations. Each day brings forth inflammatory statements and shifting landscapes. Donald Trump’s presidency is nothing short of unconventional, keeping activists and journalists on edge with his declarations and actions. What does Trump’s presidency mean for the pacifist movement? We sat down with David Swanson, Executive Director of World BEYOND War, to discuss the read more

By The Zero Hour with RJ Eskow, February 19, 2025

David Swanson is Campaign Coordinator for RootsAction.org and is co-founder of World BEYOND War. He recently returned from the 6th Annual Conference for World Balance, which promotes peace and solidarity, global dialogue, and an end to runaway materialism. We discussed the conference, global activism, the need to build stronger coalitions—and much more.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the war in Ukraine were entirely one side’s fault, if the U.S. had one political party that did everything perfectly, if USAID had only ever caused either benefit or harm, and if all the self-contradictory gibberish coming out of Trump’s pie hole were either lies or holy gospel? A lot of people sure seem to think so.

Here in the real world, things are ever so slightly more complex than in a cartoon. A war can develop through evil actions by two — count ’em — sides. read more

AUDIO:

Talk World Radio is recorded on Zoom.

Here is this week’s video and all the videos on Youtube.