Last of the Neocon 'Three Amigos': Lindsey Graham Dies Unexpectedly
The one thing Graham was consistent about was his enthusiasm for foreign wars.
Cold War
Before the NSA Honored Historian David Kahn, the FBI Investigated Him
Newly declassified files reveal that J. Edgar Hoover wanted to prosecute the NSA’s future scholar in residence for collecting cryptography manuals.
On America's 250th Birthday, the United States Arms the World's Tyrannies
On a Fourth of July, John Quincy Adams warned against the foreign policy that his successors would later adopt.
What 1976 Got Right About America
Matt Welch discusses the forgotten reality of the bicentennial, the cultural impact of Roots, and why America doesn't need a single national story.
Psychic Soldiers, Mind Readers, and Dolphin Drones: The Cold War's Weird Paranormal History
How Soviet séances and CIA remote viewers sparked a decades-long arms race no one was supposed to know about
War Hawks' 'Credibility' Obsession Makes America Less Credible
Trump is making the same mistakes Nixon did, doubling down on pointless threats to save face.
Kodak Invented This Film for World War II Spy Planes. Then It Became Art.
Aerochrome photography is a beautiful example of a warlike technology being turned toward peaceful ends.
How the Iran War Could Backfire
Emma Ashford discusses Trump’s incoherent Iran strategy, the failures of post–Cold War foreign policy, and why a multipolar world limits American power.
The Islanders Expelled To Build the West's Middle East Fortress
The British Empire evacuated the Chagos Islands to build a military base, which the U.S. is using in the Iran War. Now, a court ruling is giving the original owners hope of going home.
Can America Return to Neoconservatism Without the Same Results?
Shadi Hamid’s The Case for American Power implies that true interventionism hasn’t been tried.
Declassified Documents Detail the FBI's Surveillance of a Libertarian Sci-Fi Author
Vernor Vinge, who mocked the surveillance state in his writing, was investigated for alleged connections to socialist Sandinistas in Nicaragua.
Dick Cheney, Vice President and Self-Described 'Darth Vader,' Was a Champion of the War State
The former vice president liked being compared to the supervillain as a joke. But he had seriously villainous effects on millions of people in real life.
FBI Spied on Libertarian Sci-Fi Author Vernor Vinge In 'Espionage' Case
The late friend of Reason, who coined the term "technological singularity," landed on the feds' radar for his association with a foreign policy dissident.
How 'National Security' Came Unmoored From Americans' Actual Security
The turning point was the New Deal.
Tom Lehrer Satirized the National Security State From the Inside
The Cold War comedian and rumored Jell-O shot inventor had a lesser known side as an NSA operative.
How a Government Mind Control Experiment Backfired
Historian John Lisle uncovers how Cold War paranoia, LSD, and unchecked power led the CIA to fund torture, deception, and mind control experiments on unwitting Americans.
There's Probably No 'Smoking Gun' in the JFK or Epstein Cases. We Should Be Allowed To Look Anyway.
You don't need to uncover a vast conspiracy to find valuable revelations—and without transparency, you don't know what revelations might be there.
A Brief, Bloody History of All the Times the U.S. Caused Chaos in the Middle East
The conflict with Iran is the latest in a decadeslong series of regime change operations, long-term entanglements, and all-out wars that always seem to invite more problems.
Was the Cold War a Deception?
The American Enterprise Institute's Hal Brands and investigative journalist Gareth Porter debate the necessity of the Cold War.
McCarthyism, Past—and Present?
Clay Risen's Red Scare book wrongly frames it as an exclusively conservative hysteria.
That Time the FBI Conspired To Get George Foreman an Award for Boxing
In 1968, the feds thought that the boxing champion—and future grill salesman—could be a potent weapon against the left.
What Ronald Reagan's Fusionist Politics Teach Us About Liberty, Virtue, and Their Limits
Fusionism holds that virtue and liberty are mutually reinforcing, and that neither is possible in any lasting or meaningful way without the other.
The Indian-Pakistani Ceasefire Is What U.S. Diplomacy Should Look Like
Sitting on the sidelines let America play neutral mediator and talk down both sides.
The Cold War Broadcasting Apparatus Should Shut Down
Dissidents resisting authoritarian regimes should be independent of the United States—and so should their media sources.
5 of the Worst USAID Scandals in History
The agency's low points, from working with child sex abusers to enabling drug trafficking
Iran Hawks Are Falling for the 'Evil Wizard' Theory of Geopolitics
Assassinating enemy leaders isn’t a silver bullet for solving international conflict.
Trump Wishes Americans Stayed in Afghanistan To Fight China
The president who helped end America’s longest war now regrets leaving behind U.S. bases.
In the Hands of the Jury
Plus: A new Cold War, Pope Francis using slurs, Israeli surveillance, and more...
How Did Kissinger Become an American Citizen?
Reason has obtained an exclusive copy of Henry Kissinger's immigration files from the 1940s.
Genre-Bending Anime Spy x Family Tackles Cold War Espionage
State power and oppressive surveillance serve as the backdrop for this animated spy comedy.
Goodbye to George Santos and Henry Kissinger
Plus: an unexpected digression into the world of Little Debbie dessert snack cakes.
Henry Kissinger's Deadly Career Gives the Lie to the Myth of the Disinterested Statesman
But his cynical brand of realism did at least lead him to caution against some of America's ideological military adventures.
The U.S. Credit Rating Just Dropped. It's Time for Radical Budget Reform.
The lack of oversight and the general absence of a long-term vision is creating inefficiency, waste, and red ink as far as the eye can see.
Matt Dallek: The John Birch Society's Deep Influence on Trump's GOP
The George Washington University historian argues that the group's paranoid mindset and obsessions are front and center in the modern GOP.
Daniel Akst: The World War II Pacifists Who Changed America Forever
"Christian libertarians" Bayard Rustin and David Dellinger challenged state power and ended up leading the civil rights movement and anti-Vietnam War protests.
Want To Beat China? Let in More Chinese!
More immigration from China would both hobble a geopolitical rival and make America richer and better.
Did Biden Just Commit America to Another Forever War in Ukraine?
Plus: the editors field a listener question on intellectual property.
By Shooting Down Balloon, the Expensive, Useless F-22 Fighter Finally Won a Dogfight
After $67 billion and more than 20 years, the F-22 finally won a dogfight against an unarmed, nearly immobile opponent.
Nothing About the Chinese Balloon Saga Makes Sense
Plus: The French face "le wokisme," a Tennessee "eyelash specialist license" would require 300 hours education, and more...
The Press Idolizes Politicians. Instead, It Needs To Hold Them Accountable.
Newspapers deserve a great deal of credit for the expansion of freedom over the past 200 years. But the media have lost credibility.
It Wasn't What He Wanted, But Gorbachev Allowed an Evil Empire To Collapse
Alas, the Russians never forgave him.
Cuba Liberalizes Economy as Economic Crisis and Protests Grow
The island’s communist government announced it would allow foreign investors to enter its nationalized retail industry as it faces shortages, blackouts, and new protests.
James Kirchick: How Homophobia Warped the Cold War
The Secret City author explains how panic about homosexuality led to discrimination, bad policy, and, eventually, freedom.
After the War
In the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, it's time for Europe to step up and America to step back.
What Biden Can Learn from Eisenhower's 1957 State of the Union
The world's conscience had been shocked by Russia's recent invasion of a sovereign European state. Ike responded with sober, long-game containment in Europe...and more reckless escalation in the Middle East.
The Uses and Disadvantages of Soviet History for Life
It is hard to comprehend the scarcity and existential dread that was humanity's constant companion during the Cold War.
