Twenty-five years ago, as the United States prepared for its invasion of Afghanistan, Tom Engelhardt launched an informal listserv to push back against mainstream media narratives. Over the following two decades, that project evolved into TomDispatch, a cornerstone of the independent media ecosystem that syndicating critical voices ranging from Barbara Ehrenreich and Chalmers Johnson to Andrew Bacevich and Ann Jones. Known for tough, measured commentary and longform muckraking reminiscent of earlier eras of American journalism, the publication survived and thrived by offering a regular antidote to conventional reporting.
In June, Engelhardt formally turned over the reins of the publication to editor Nick Turse, though Engelhardt continues to publish commentary via his Substack. Throughout his career, Engelhardt has used the written word to challenge successive conflicts, opposing the Vietnam War in his youth, analyzing the Cold War in his book ‘The End of Victory Culture,’ and chronicling the forever wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere. Today, editorial leadership reflects on those decades of resistance as the publication enters a new chapter under Turse.
Reflecting on the current political landscape, Engelhardt recently characterized the administration of President Donald Trump as an apocalyptic departure from historical norms, comparing its chaotic and destructive potential to a hypothetical presidency of 1950s anticommunist figure Joseph McCarthy, but on an exponentially grander scale. The administration’s second term has been marked by global hostility, punctuated by recent complaints from the president that he was not awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. Trump asserted that the failure to honor him was an indelible stain on Norway and the committee, claiming he had settled eight conflicts and should have won multiple peace prizes.
Critics point out a stark contrast between these assertions and the reality of more than 20 ongoing military interventions, armed conflicts, and wars overseen during his tenure. Among them is a continuing military engagement with Iran that has resulted in thousands of Iranian casualties, tens of thousands of injuries, and rising American losses, alongside a nonexistent conflict between Egypt and Ethiopia cited by the administration.
Further straining international stability, the administration has signaled a potential return to hostilities alongside Saudi Arabia against Houthi rebels in Yemen. Early in his second term, U.S. forces engaged in a costly campaign in Yemen that expended $1 billion without achieving air superiority, ultimately leading to a cessation of hostilities last May that left the group in control of most populated areas despite earlier vows of complete annihilation.
Domestically, the administration’s foreign policy intersects with contentious internal actions. Recently, the Department of Homeland Security raided the suburban Washington, D.C., home of Somali American Representative Ilhan Omar as part of an effort to explore denaturalization proceedings aimed at ejecting her from the country. The president targeted Omar on social media, questioning her financial status while his own administration’s financial growth during his time in office has drawn widespread scrutiny.
Beyond foreign interventions and domestic political disputes, the administration’s environmental policies present what commentators describe as an existential threat to the planet. After calling climate change a con job during a 2025 United Nations address, the administration has systematically dismantled environmental safeguards. The Environmental Protection Agency recently repealed regulations limiting greenhouse gas emissions from coal- and natural gas-fueled power plants, while the administration has actively blocked wind and solar power development.
These policy rollbacks coincide with accelerating global ecological pressures. Worldwide, global warming continues to reach unprecedented levels, sea level rise accelerates, and northern forests and tundra release more carbon dioxide than they absorb. Scientific monitoring indicates that the Greenland ice sheet has lost approximately 129 gigatons, or roughly 129 billion metric tons, of ice, while vital ecological systems including tropical coral reefs, the Amazon rainforest, and the Antarctic ice sheet face mounting pressure toward critical tipping points.
