Khury Petersen-Smith is the Michael Ratner Middle East Fellow at IPS. He researches U.S. empire, borders, and migration. Khury graduated from the Clark University Graduate School of Geography in Massachusetts, after completing a dissertation that focused on militarization and sovereignty. He is one of the co-authors and organizers of the 2015 Black Solidarity with Palestine statement, which was signed by over 1,100 Black activists, artists, and scholars.
The Pentagon now claims no wrongdoing in a parting drone attack that killed seven children. International law and basic morality demands real accountability.
Julian Aguon’s ‘The Properties of Perpetual Light’ is a thoughtful meditation on how, to understand problems at the center of a colonial society, we have to look at the margins.
There are obvious links between anti-war movements against U.S. militarism and Black Lives Matter activism against police brutality. Is time for activists to join forces?
Instead of resetting U.S. relations with Iran, Biden has mostly continued the course of aggression set by the Trump Administration.
Discussing the border in nativist terms obscures the real crises that propel migrants to seek asylum in the United States.
When the world needed collaboration across borders to control the pandemic, U.S. militarism led to the opposite. We must change course.
Regardless of who is giving orders to U.S. bombers, we know that deploying U.S. troops, drones, and warplanes across the region does not provide safety or security for anyone.
We need a decisive break from the previous century of US policy toward Iran, which has been based on domination.
Federal forces deployed in American cities is indeed cause for alarm. But we should also ask what these agents have been doing at the border and beyond.
Black Lives Matter protests have jumped U.S. borders and reached across the world, including Palestine, where Floyd’s murder has struck a chord.
War hasn’t taken a break during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Don’t ban the immigrants we need for essential jobs — welcome them with open arms and full rights.
Despite millions of coronavirus cases around the globe, war continues to be waged — many of them on behalf of the united states. That must end immediately.
As we take steps to control the virus, these devastating U.S. foreign policies need to be immediately reversed.
Khury Petersen-Smith and Rebecca Vilkomerson discuss racism and security, and how the coronavirus pandemic gives us an opportunity to redefine security.
Closed borders and ICE raids mean crowded detention centers and camps, which is always inhumane. In a pandemic, it’s a global public health threat.
Recent years have seen growth in solidarity with Palestinians as many question support for Israel.
Trump has sent more new troops to the Middle East than he’s bringing home from Afghanistan.
As we spiral toward a confrontation between the U.S. and Iran, it’s worth reflecting on the failures to rein in U.S. aggression along the way.
The U.S. is deeply involved in the region surrounding Syria. Its actions helped lay the groundwork for the current struggle faced by the Kurds.