Thursday, March 12, 2026

John Dower

2 POSTS 0 COMMENTS
John W. Dower is professor emeritus of history at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the author of the National Book Critics Circle Award-winning War Without Mercy and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Embracing Defeat. His new book, The Violent American Century: War and Terror Since World War Two (Dispatch Books), has just been published. This essay is adapted from chapter one of that densely annotated book. (Sources for the information above appear in the footnotes in that book.)

POPULAR

The $5.6 billion opening salvo: inside the staggering cost of Trump’s war on Iran

New reporting reveals that the United States burned through billions in munitions within days of launching its assault on Iran, highlighting the scale of the military campaign and its mounting financial and humanitarian toll.

How 300 billionaires poured $3 billion into the 2024 elections

A tiny fraction of donors supplied nearly one-fifth of all federal campaign spending as billionaire influence surged to unprecedented levels.

Senate Democrats demand investigation into Iran school bombing as Fetterman stands apart

Nearly the entire Democratic caucus calls for a probe into a deadly strike on a girls’ school in Minab while one senator backs the military operation.

Americans skipping meals and delaying life decisions as healthcare costs strain households nationwide

New Gallup surveys show tens of millions of Americans cutting back on food, utilities, and daily necessities to pay medical bills while healthcare affordability worsens.

The war on Iran—and Washington’s missing exit strategy

That means inflicting real costs: U.S. casualties, political backlash at home, strained relations with allies, global economic disruption and a further erosion of Washington’s standing in the world.