Peter Van Buren

Peter Van Buren spent a year in Iraq as a State Department Foreign Service Officer serving as Team Leader for two Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs). Now in Washington, he writes about Iraq and the Middle East at his blog, We Meant Well. His first book, We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People, was published in 2011, and his second book, Ghosts of Tom Joad: A Story of the #99Percent, was published in 2014. His newest book, Hooper’s War: A Novel of WWII Japan, has just been published.

How Economic Regime Change Reshaped America

How Economic Regime Change Reshaped America How Economic Regime Change Reshaped America

The cumulative effects of years of deindustrialization, weakened unions and soaring inequality have fundamentally reordered the country.

May 1, 2014 / Peter Van Buren

Life Inside the New Minimum Wage Economy

Life Inside the New Minimum Wage Economy Life Inside the New Minimum Wage Economy

Taxpayers are basically moneylenders to a government that is far more interested in subsidizing business than in caring for their workers.

Apr 24, 2014 / Peter Van Buren

How a Clerical Error Barred This Stanford Student From the United States

How a Clerical Error Barred This Stanford Student From the United States How a Clerical Error Barred This Stanford Student From the United States

Rahinah Ibrahim’s life was derailed by the tangle of national security bureaucracies that have come to define post-9/11 America. 

Apr 7, 2014 / Peter Van Buren

The Next Battleground in the War on Whistleblowers

The Next Battleground in the War on Whistleblowers The Next Battleground in the War on Whistleblowers

Robert MacLean, a US Air Marshal fired for allegedly leaking sensitive government documents, is just trying to get his job back. For the rest of us, his case has much more profound...

Mar 4, 2014 / Peter Van Buren

Just How Easy Is it for the President to Kill an American Citizen?

Just How Easy Is it for the President to Kill an American Citizen? Just How Easy Is it for the President to Kill an American Citizen?

It’s still possible to remember, almost nostalgically, how the Fifth Amendment used to guarantee Americans due process.

Feb 18, 2014 / Peter Van Buren

Ten Myths About the NSA, Debunked

Ten Myths About the NSA, Debunked Ten Myths About the NSA, Debunked

You can’t opt out.

Jan 13, 2014 / Peter Van Buren

Could Google and the NSA Make Whistleblowers Disappear?

Could Google and the NSA Make Whistleblowers Disappear? Could Google and the NSA Make Whistleblowers Disappear?

There will be no need to kill a future Edward Snowden. He will already be dead.

Dec 3, 2013 / Peter Van Buren

John Kerry Is a Terrible Secretary of State

John Kerry Is a Terrible Secretary of State John Kerry Is a Terrible Secretary of State

The United States’ top diplomat is a figure of his times (and that’s not a good thing.)

Nov 4, 2013 / Peter Van Buren

Giving New Meaning to the Day After 9/11 

Giving New Meaning to the Day After 9/11  Giving New Meaning to the Day After 9/11 

Why saying no to Syria matters (and it's not about Syria).

Sep 12, 2013 / Peter Van Buren

Welcome to Post-Constitution America

Welcome to Post-Constitution America Welcome to Post-Constitution America

What if your country begins to change and no one notices?

Aug 5, 2013 / Peter Van Buren

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