Not quite. But the CIA used modern art as Cold War propaganda against the Soviet Union in ways that were not visible to the public. The school of painting known as Abstract Expressionism served as an expression of American soft power. From JSTOR Daily (“where news meets its scholarly match”) The preeminent Cultural Cold Warrior,...
Author: Jefferson Morley (Jefferson Morley)
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Is CIA’s Gina Haspel Going Full MAGA?
[This piece first appeared in The New Republic, Feb. 12, 2020] When President Trump used his State of the Union address to call on Congress to pass legislation allowing crime victims to sue sanctuary cities for offenses committed by undocumented immigrants, CIA director Gina Haspel rose to her feet clapping. It was an unusual display...
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Is More Surveillance the Answer to the COVID19?
Just as the 9/11 attacks hastened the spread of mass surveillance, so the COVID19 crisis promises to do the same. It’s not that extraordinary measures aren’t necessary. It’s that governments always use crises to expand their powers. Mass surveillance did not prevent terror attacks. It may not work against the virus. Here are some links...
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Counterterrorism: A Woman’s Game
From The Interpreter, an Australian blog about international politics. two recently published books on counterterrorism, intelligence, and national security fly in the face of the notion that counterterrorism and national security is a man’s game and show that when it comes to gender and counterterrorism, there is much more than meets the eye. The first...
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Four Companies Making Big Money Off the War on Yemen
The details of war profiteering come from Alex Kane at In These Times. Back in 2018, I reported in Salon about how Raytheon’s stock skyrocketed along with deadly attacks on Yemeni civilians. Kane updates and expand the story of the money to be made from killing men, women, and children. Under President Barack Obama’s administration...