Jonathan Schell

Peace and Disarmament Correspondent

Jonathan Schell is the Harold Willens Peace Fellow at The Nation Institute and teaches a course on the nuclear dilemma at Yale. He is the author of The Seventh Decade: The New Shape of Nuclear Danger.

Currently

  • When the Gloves Come Off

    October 15, 2008

    On the campaign trail, new lies are being pumped into the political bloodstream.

  • Israel, Iran and the Bomb

    July 30, 2008

    Israel and the Mideast are approaching a stark choice: nuclear holocaust or a nuclear-free region.

  • Letters

    January 9, 2008 Subscribe

  • A Season of 'Change'

    January 7, 2008

    Throughout the political sphere--in Democratic and Republican campaigns, in media coverage and pollsters' surveys--the word "change" is bubbling on people's lips. What does it really mean?

2007

  • The Old and New Shapes of Nuclear Danger

    December 6, 2007

    During the cold war, the driving force was the bilateral arms race; now it's proliferation.

  • A Colder War

    November 21, 2007

    Richard Rhodes's Arsenals of Folly, sequel to the book that defined the atomic age, captures the political struggle that brought it to an end.

  • Bush, Pakistan and the Bomb

    November 14, 2007

    The Bush Administration's failed war on terror has stoked the fires it was meant to quench. And in Pakistan, the risk of nuclear terrorisism is on the rise.

  • Taking Power

    September 20, 2007 Subscribe

    America is sleepwalking into one-man rule. What can the Democrats do about it?

  • Letters

    September 12, 2007 Subscribe

    A heated exchange of views on Lakshmi Chaudhry's slam of Harry Potter and a more civilized exchange between Jonathan Schell and Peace Action's Kevin Martin on nuclear proliferation.

  • The Spirit of June 12

    June 14, 2007

    Twenty-five years after the largest antinuclear demonstration ever, the movement has dwindled. But the threat of mass destruction grows greater.

2006

  • The Torture Election

    October 30, 2006

    The GOP's one-party rule has created a constitutional crisis that threatens America's future. By pulling the right lever on November 7, voters can throw this party out of office.

  • Shock Waves From Kilju

    October 11, 2006

    A forgetful world was reminded this week that Kim Jong Il now holds in his hand the same pitiless weapon possessed by a growing number of nations.

  • Too Late for Empire

    September 2, 2006

    Thirty years after Watergate, we again face a constitutional crisis at home and a misconceived war abroad. The United States will remain a helpless giant until we finally learn that power in the nuclear, postimperial age is diplomatic, not military.

  • Too Late for Empire

    July 27, 2006

    Thirty years after Watergate, we again face a constitutional crisis at home and a misconceived war abroad. The United States will remain a helpless giant until we finally learn that power in the nuclear, postimperial age is diplomatic, not military.

  • Farewell to Ground Zero

    February 20, 2006

    The structure of our Republic is at mortal risk. Will our Constitution survive or are we in the midst of a transmutation in which the balance of powers and our personal freedoms will be canceled?

2005

  • The Hidden State Steps Forward

    December 20, 2005

    The Bush Administration is not a dictatorship, but it has all the markings of one in embryonic form. Bush has declared himself to be above the law, and members of Congress have no choice but to accept the challenge. Either the President upholds the laws of this country, or he must leave office.

  • The Fall of the One-Party Empire

    November 22, 2005

    Jonathan Schell writes that unmaking the fraudulent empire that the GOP has created will not be done quickly and the outcome is unclear. But historians may one day write that the fake American empire was the Achilles' heel of the one-party state the Bush Administration failed to build.

  • Faith and Fraud

    November 2, 2005

    The fictional world created by the Bush Administration over its five years in power is falling to pieces, with the blood-soaked folly in Iraq, a ruined environment, massive corruption and a basic failure to govern. Yet the faith-based President continues to fashion lies, and believe them.

  • How to Lose an Election

    October 13, 2005 Subscribe

    A new report by Democratic strategists urges the party to aim toward the center. But what meaningful difference will that make?

  • Talks Without End

    September 22, 2005

    An agreement between the United States and North Korea resolving longstanding differences on nuclear weapons and energy programs at first was cause for celebration. But in fact, no real breakthrough has occurred. There is only the appearance of an agreement.

  • Honor Their Sacrifice

    September 1, 2005

    Mounting American casualties alone cannot turn us away from this ill-advised war. Democrats and anti-war advocates should let words and peaceful actions speak, instead of guns and corpses.

  • Letter From Ground Zero

    July 28, 2005 Subscribe

    Like every important government crisis, the outing of undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame by Karl Rove, must be seen in many contexts at once.

  • Letter From Ground Zero

    June 16, 2005

    When the truth comes out in Iraq, America's grotesque misadventure there will be brought to a close.

  • Letter From Ground Zero

    May 26, 2005 Subscribe

    The Senate backed down from its "nuclear option." But would Bush actually reach for his?

  • Letter From Ground Zero

    May 5, 2005 Subscribe

    At the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty review conference, two groups are colliding.

  • Letter From Ground Zero

    April 7, 2005 Subscribe

    The government manipulates popular movements at home and abroad.

  • Letter From Ground Zero

    March 3, 2005 Subscribe

  • Letter From Ground Zero

    February 10, 2005 Subscribe

  • Letter From Ground Zero

    January 20, 2005

  • Letter From Ground Zero

    January 6, 2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

  • 2001: A Force to Reckon With

    December 14, 2000

    Power, as the founders of this country well knew, is a mighty temptation. Money is another. Put the two together, and you have a force to reckon with.

  • Vesuvius

    November 30, 2000

    Whoever wins the legal battles over the election, recent events will cast a long shadow over American political life in the years ahead.

  • Manufacturing a Crisis

    November 27, 2000

    The postelection battle for the presidency is without doubt some kind of crisis, but it's not easy to define precisely what kind.

  • The Butterfly Election

    November 16, 2000

  • The 'Stealth Campaign'

    November 9, 2000

    A foggy campaign has ended in a deep fog, as if the people, not having been offered a true choice, have simply decided not to choose.

  • Our Virtual Primaries

    January 20, 2000

1999

1998

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