Trump, Racism, and the Military
Throughout his administration, President Trump has misused the US military to advance his racist and discriminatory political priorities. He has used the Department of Defense as a prop to…
Editor in Chief
Laicie Heeley
Editor in Chief
Laicie Heeley (@laicie) is the founder and editor of Inkstick and the host and executive producer of the PRX- and Inkstick-produced podcast, Things That Go Boom. She is also a Partner with the Truman National Security Project. Laicie's work has appeared in well-known newspapers, journals, and periodicals including Foreign Policy, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and Associated Press, and she has appeared as an expert on CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News.
Militarization of the Police Sets up Protesters as ‘the Enemy’
The unrest sparked by the death of George Floyd after being pinned to the ground by the knee of a Minneapolis police officer has left parts of US cities looking like a battle zone. Night…
Don’t Blame Russia for Police Brutality in the US
Nearly four years into the Trump administration, Russia looms larger than ever in the minds of many of the president’s critics. With the impeachment trial in the rearview mirror, blaming…
While We Were Sleeping (The Wrong Apocalypse, Part 2)
If the US can’t build better airports or trains than China, or even take care of itself in times of major crisis like the coronavirus, how exactly is it supposed to “beat” China in…
The Afghanistan Exit Deal May Fail, the Withdrawal Shouldn’t
Let’s be honest: the US-Taliban deal was not a peace agreement. It was negotiated without the participation of the Afghan government and civil society and therefore did not lay the…
World War C (The Wrong Apocalypse, Part 1)
The US spends more than $700 billion on defense every year, more than healthcare, education, and all the rest of our discretionary spending combined. And yet the coronavirus slipped silently…
It’s Time to Rethink Our Wargames
National security practitioners held several high-profile pandemic wargames and exercises in the years prior to the outbreak of COVID-19. Often, these games eerily predicted events in the…
When "COVID-19 Relief" Actually Means Pentagon Bloat
China has weaponized the coronavirus, and not in the way some might think. The Chinese government is running a sophisticated, multi-faceted, and global influence operation to shape the…
First in Military Spending, Last in Our COVID-19 Response
Each year, the global think tank SIPRI publishes an authoritative look at military spending levels across the world. The latest numbers, just released in April, found that the United States…
Governing a Pandemic
In cities across the United States, anti-lockdown demonstrators gather in previously empty streets as Americans protest the federal, state, and local efforts to counter COVID-19. Rally…