military occupation — Bunk History

A man pushes a bicycle as he walks amid rubble in the devastated area around Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital, April 3, 2024. (AFP via Getty Images)

Gaza and the Undoing of Zionism

A historian reviews new books by Peter Beinart, Avi Shlaim and Pankaj Mishra on the project that animates Israel’s violence.

by Yakov M. Rabkin via New Lines on June 20, 2025

The American flag and the South Korean flag.

Eighty Years of Martial Law

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s declaration of martial law is of little import compared to the American occupation of the country.

by Jason Morgan via The American Conservative on December 24, 2024

A Taliban soldier standing on the ruins of the Bala Hissar fortress, Kabul, Afghanistan, 2021.

The Price of American ‘Safety’

New books on the War in Afghanistan endeavor to tell the realities of occupation and the "war on terror."

by Suzy Hansen via New York Review of Books on February 20, 2024

Composite by Hannah Yoest of images relating to the Iraq War.

Moral Injuries

Remembering what the Iraq War was like, 20 years later.

by Will Selber via Bulwark+ on March 20, 2023

Drawing of Smedley Butler in front of a map background.

The Marine Who Turned Against U.S. Empire

What turned Smedley Butler into a critic of American foreign policy?

by Patrick Iber via The New Republic on January 11, 2022

In plane sight: Loadmasters look over Tumon Bay, Guam, during Exercise Cope North.

Guam: Resisting Empire at the “Tip of the Spear”

The Pentagon is increasing its forces on the US territory, but Indigenous residents are fighting back.

by Chris Gelardi via The Nation on November 2, 2021

Residents of Marja returning to their village on motorcycles

The Lie of Nation Building

From the very beginning, the problem with the US involvement in Afghanistan lay essentially in the deficits in American democracy.

by Fintan O’Toole via New York Review of Books on September 8, 2021

Silhouette of a soldier sitting on aircraft

The Long Roots of Endless War

A new history shows how the glut of US military bases abroad has led to a constant state of military conflict.

by Daniel Immerwahr via The Nation on November 30, 2020

A broadside featuring illustrations of coffins.

Colonial Boston’s Civil War

Bostonians refused to be forced to house British soldiers. So the army paid rent to willing landlords, and soldiers’ families settled down all over town.

by Kathleen DuVal via The Wall Street Journal on February 28, 2020

Gossip, Sex, and Redcoats: On the Build-Up to the Boston Massacre

Don't let anyone tell you revolutionary history is boring.

by Serena Zabin via Literary Hub on February 20, 2020

Peale family portrait.

Domestic Tranquility: Privacy and the Household in Revolutionary America

British occupation brought challenges to the very foundation of the American home.

by Lauren Duval via Uncommon Sense on October 22, 2019

Paul Bremmer at a desk, signing his name on a letter.

Paul Bremer, Ski Instructor

Learning to shred with the Bush Administration’s Iraq War fall guy.

by Aaron Gell via Task & Purpose on March 26, 2018

Bombing Nagasaki: The Scrapbook

A "yearbook" documents the U.S. military occupation of Nagasaki in the aftermath of the atomic bomb.

by Clark Parker via The Tokyo Files Archives on May 2, 2016

Mapping Occupation: Force, Freedom, and the Army in Reconstruction

A detailed look at when and where the U.S. Army was able to enforce the new rule of law in the years following the Civil War.

by Gregory P. Downs, Scott Nesbit via Mapping Occupation on March 1, 2015

South Korean soldiers walking through a trench of dead bodies.

The Moral Distortions of the Official Korean War Narrative

June 25 marks the 75th anniversary of the start of the Korean War. But the truth is that the US was a willing partner in mass murder across the peninsula.

by Grace M. Cho via The Nation on June 24, 2025

An illustration of blurry Korean people in the ruins of a city after a nuclear bombing.

The Atomic Bombs’ Forgotten Korean Victims

Survivors of the nuclear blasts in Hiroshima and Nagasaki are still fighting for recognition.

by E. Tammy Kim via The New Yorker on June 16, 2025

Bars evoking the border wall superimposed on a photo of a river.

The New Politics Of Territorial Expansion

“Never again” and the “responsibility to protect” now license forcible territorial annexation.

by Nils Gilman, Dirk Moses, Zachariah Mampilly via Noema on May 29, 2025

Trump's airplane in Greenland.

Why Trump Wants Greenland—And Why He Probably Won't Get It

He's not the first to set his sights on the island.

by James Patton Rogers, Caroline Kennedy Pipe via Made By History on January 23, 2025

A drawing of a Viking ship approaching Greenland.

The Long Struggle for Greenland

Throughout its history, the vast Arctic island has been viewed by competing powers as a strategic prize and geopolitical asset.

by Paul Lay via Engelsberg Ideas on January 8, 2025

Haitian gang members carrying assault rifles, standing in the center of a stylized rifle sight.

Haiti’s Agents Of Fear

Haitians are caught between the grip of violent gangs and the messy legacies of foreign intervention.

by Matthew J. Smith via Noema on October 29, 2024

Still from the film 'Red Dawn" showing three men holding rifles and binoculars.

Why 1984's 'Red Dawn' Still Matters

By framing the U.S. as a victim, 'Red Dawn' obscured U.S. aggression in Latin America and elsewhere.

by Michelle D. Paranzino via Made By History on August 9, 2024

A photograph of the massacre perpetrated by Americans taken on the morning of March 8, 1906, on the eastern crest of Bud Dajo.

A Notorious Photo From a US Massacre in the Philippines Reveals an Ugly Truth

A shocking image of the 1906 atrocity survived but failed to become a humanitarian touchstone.

by Kim A. Wagner via New Lines on June 17, 2024

Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat shake hands at the White House

A Brief History of Peace Talks, Israel & the Palestinians

Who's to blame for failures in 2000, 2001 & 2008?

by Zachary Foster via Palestine, In Your Inbox on December 29, 2023

Lagoon in Majuro Atoll with tropical trees in the background and a rainbow in the sky

On the Map

The flag of Bikini Atoll looks a lot like the American flag. It has the same red and white stripes. The resemblance is intentional.

by Carleigh Beriont via Process: A Blog for American History on December 12, 2023

Jimmy Carter Stood up for Palestinians. Why Won’t Today’s Democrats?

At the height of George W. Bush’s War on Terror, Jimmy Carter had the courage to call out Israel for its human rights abuses.

by Alex Skopic via Current Affairs on November 9, 2023

John Brown.

A Plea for Genuine Peace in Liberation

To address these atrocities and treat Jewish victims, survivors, and families with dignity, we must confront Israel’s subjugation of Palestine.

by William Horne via In Case Of Emergency on October 12, 2023

George w. Bush delivers a speech on the USS Abraham Lincoln under a banner reading "Mission Accomplished."

The Worst Crime of the 21st Century

The United States’ destruction of Iraq remains the worst international crime of our time. Its perpetrators remain free and its horrors are buried.

by Noam Chomsky, Nathan J. Robinson via Current Affairs on May 12, 2023

Collage of Paul Bremer, a line of prisoners, and an excerpt of a document.

Orders of Disorder

Who disbanded Iraq’s army and de-Baathified its bureaucracy?

by Garrett M. Graff via Foreign Affairs on May 5, 2023

A U.S. Army officer posing after a battle at the Baghdad airport, April 2003.

Blundering Into Baghdad

The right—and wrong—lessons of the Iraq War.

by Hal Brands via Foreign Affairs on February 28, 2023

"White Zombie" in white font on green background, with illustration of eyes over the text and clasped hands below the text

Colonialism Birthed the Zombie Movie

The first feature-length zombie movie emerged from Haitians’ longstanding association of the living dead with slavery and exploited labor.

by Livia Gershon, Jennifer Fay via JSTOR Daily on October 31, 2022

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