Contract-hungry tech giants like Palantir, Skydio and General Atomics have found a new market for drone warfare. More and more, the killer technology that came to embody the Forever Wars is coming home to the West. And US and UK populations are first in line for the War on Terror treatment… Once again, the chickens are coming home to roost.

Responsible Statecraft columnist Stavroula Pabst explains:

Pentagon contractors like Palantir, Skydio, and General Atomics have gained ground at home for surveillance technologies — especially drones — proliferating war-tested military tech within the domestic sphere.

Pabst explained how surveillance technology’s so-called ‘dual-push’ nature has opened the door to use these military assets at home. For example:

Palantir’s Gotham platform was initially promoted as intelligence software for defense and counter-terrorism purposes.

Piloted to predict adversaries’ use of improvised explosives during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and later adopted by Israeli defense and intelligence agencies amid war on Gaza, Palantir has simultaneously marketed Gotham as a data-centric policing tool.

Subsequently, the same technology was:

adopted among U.S. law enforcement. Hundreds of police departments can use Gotham to analyze data on civilians’ whereabouts.

Pabst added that Palantir’s tech has quickly been adopted by Trump’s door-kicking immigration goons:

Palantir has gone on to sell similar software to other government agencies, obtaining a $30 million ICE contract this spring to help the agency track undocumented immigrants.

Another example is the L3Harris Stingrays, a high tech phone tracker designed for the military:

utilized during wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Police departments subsequently adopted these systems to track and collect information on crime suspects, though L3Harris is slowly phasing them out.

The boomerang is boomeranging — drone Christmas special

Pabst’s report is full of examples of how the so-called ‘imperial boomerang’ is operating. Simply put, colonisers will wield technologies and methods of colonial policing against home populations.

For example:

Over 1,000 U.S. law enforcement and security agencies now use Skydio drones, which have seen combat in wars in Gaza and Ukraine, for purposes ranging from first response to crowd monitoring at public events.

Likewise:

Skydio has procured substantive contracts in the process, such as a $4.6 million contract equipping law enforcement in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota with police drones.

Drone warfare in the UK

British security forces aren’t going to miss this boat. That includes remote operated sea drones. A form with deep links to Palantir just opened up a drone factory in the UK.

As UK watchdog Drone Wars said in November, many tech firms are fighting to get a slice of new UK defence spending plans:

Defence Minister Alistair Cairns indicated in July that there would be around £4bn spending on uncrewed systems – ‘Drones, drones and drones‘ as he put it on Twitter.

Palantir-linked AI firm Helsing opened a factory in December. They’ll be developing undersea war drones:

Helsing is a new AI-focused military corporation, funded by Spotify’s Daniel Ek, and keen to gain a slice of the UK government’s promised £5 billion spending on drones, AI and other emerging technology.

British cops have been using drones to monitor citizens for half a decade. The uptick was already underway in 2020:

Drones were deployed 103 times by Avon and Somerset Constabulary during the first six months of 2020. This means that at points during lockdown drone flights occurred on an almost daily basis.

Once again, if you think these war machines are something that should only concern far-off people… the next few years are going to give you a royal kick up the arse.

Increasing authoritarianism married to high-tech surveillance and weaponry, in the context of an erratic and collapsing US empire and rising fascism…. well all that isn’t going to go off quietly.  It’s well past time to get wise to what is coming down the pipe.

Featured image via Defence Industry

By Joe Glenton

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The Trump administration has pitched “Project Sunrise” to foreign governments and potential investors, outlining an ambitious vision to transform Gaza into a high-tech coastal city, as revealed in a recent report.

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By Marc Eliot Stein, World BEYOND War, December 20, 2025

“Colonialism didn’t end with the raising of African flags,” Sellah King’oro told me as we spoke on the World BEYOND War podcast to celebrate “Imagine Africa Beyond War”, a regional peace conference that gathered speakers from more than 17 countries last month. I was already trying to grasp the enormity of a gathering that included all of WBW’s chapters in Africa, including Burundi, Cameroon, Mali, Togo, Senegal, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Gambia, Cote D’Ivoire, Kenya, South Sudan, South Kiwu, Ethiopia, Ghana, Libya, Isingoro Nakivale, Burkina Faso and Malawi. I was mostly struck by the enormity of the one good idea that motivated this peace conference: Africa can define its own future for itself, and is already doing so.

Sellah King’oro began her peacebuilding career working on local problems in her region of Kenya, and is now looking towards pan-African philosophies and initiatives as a key path forward, and a path away from the ruinous trajectory of a planet dominated by war and greed. Sellah sees Ubuntu as the essential idea that unifies activists from diverse backgrounds. Even the activity of getting together across long distances for a peace conference or a podcast is an expression of Ubuntu, which emphasizes the interconnectedness of all human fates, and warns away from the foolish delusion that it is possible for a person or a society to achieve happiness while harming neighbors and creating enemies by ignoring the effects of actions on others.

We talked about many things during this unstructured conversation (including the fact that Ubuntu was chosen as the name of a popular and influential operating system that powers organizations like World BEYOND War). We talked about the African Union, reparations, south/south partnerships, gang violence, policing, and the importance of finding alternatives to rotten and corrupt neo-colonialist leadership that often dominates African nations. Finally, we spoke about the courage of African peacebuilders and activists who are suffering or have suffered for the important and difficult work of healing societies broken and torn by war.

Thanks to Sellah King’oro for talking with me on episode 79 of the World BEYOND War podcast! Music excerpt: “Mali-ko” by Voices United for Mali.

The World BEYOND War Podcast page is here. All episodes are free and permanently available. Please subscribe and give us a good rating at any of the services below:

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The post Africa’s Philosophy of Peace: A Podcast Interview with Sellah King’oro appeared first on World BEYOND War.

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Taiwan’s proposed missile shield known as T-Dome has “critical vulnerabilities and flaws” and would be unreliable against an attack by the People’s Liberation Army, according to a mainland Chinese military magazine. The air defence system – inspired by Israel’s Iron Dome and America’s proposed Golden Dome – was unveiled in October. Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te said T-Dome would guard against “hostile threats” and aimed to intercept aircraft, drones and missiles before they could strike...

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On Christmas Day in London, over 100,000 children will wake up homeless in temporary accommodation. Why have we come to normalise homelessness?

In total, 210,000 Londoners live in temporary accommodation, or one in every 50 people in the city.

This figure includes 102,000 children. This is an increase of 8% on last year, and 35% since 2021. It is the equivalent of one child in every classroom.

Heartbreaking

Half of all people experiencing homelessness in England are in London. Local authorities spend £5.5m on homelessness every single day in the capital alone. To make matters worse, the cost of temporary accommodation has increased by 75% in the last five years.

According to the most recent figures, there are 326,000 people in temporary accommodation in England. The majority of these are families and children. This is a 17% increase on the previous year.

In 2022–23, 18% of households in temporary accommodation in London had been there for over 5 years.

What’s more, temporary accommodation is one of the most expensive forms of accommodation. The average rent in England is around £1,375 per calendar month. Temporary accommodation, however, is known to be far more expensive.

In 2010, the number of children experiencing homelessness fell to under 70,000. This shows that governments can reverse the trend when the political will is there.

National Plan to End Homelessness

Recently, the government announced the National Plan to End Homelessness.Whilst important, it fails to grasp some of the basics.

It does pledge to both eliminate the unlawful use of B&Bs for families and prevent homelessness in the first place.

However, some of the much-needed pledges in the document lack sufficient funding to implement them effectively.

According to Crisis, an organisation that works with people experiencing homelessness, only £100m of the funding is actually new. In total, £3.4bn of the £3.5bn pledged was already confirmed by the Government at the Comprehensive Spending Review earlier this year.

This shows that, while the government may want to appear as though it is taking the homelessness crisis seriously, in reality, it is not.

Everyone deserves a safe, warm place to live, especially children at Christmas.

But while our politicians and their families wake up to warm houses, big trees, and expensive gifts, over 100,000 children will face a day in damp, cold, cramped conditions, without any presents.

Featured image via Centre for Homelessness Impact

By HG

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This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here. The 31 national monuments designated since the Clinton administration, which could be downsized as the Trump administration pushes to open more public lands to extractive industries, safeguard clean water for…

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May seryosong problema sa pag-iisip si 802nd Infantry Brigade commander Pompeyo Jason Almagro para ipagwalang-bahala ang reklamo ng isang residente sa Barangay Villa Corazon, Burauen, Leyte sa nakabubulabog na “firing exercises” ng mga CAFGU sa kanilang detatsment sa loob mismo ng baryo.

Tugon ni Almagro sa isang anonymous na reklamo sa Facebook page na Eastern Visayas Media Without Borders, “dry run” lang naman daw at mga blangkong bala ang ginamit ng CAFGU sa ehersisyo militar, bilang paghahanda sa mga operasyon sa panahon ng kapaskuhan. Inamin niya na rin na nilalabag nila ang internasyunal na makataong batas sa pagkakampo at pagpapaputok sa loob ng sibilyang komunidad.

Baliw si Almagro para isiping mahimbing na makakatulog ang mga sibilyang residente habang nagkakaputukan, at nag-iinuman at nagkakagulo ang mga armadong pasista sa loob ng kanilang komunidad. Kahit tropa nila ay tiyak na hindi makakatulog habang may nagpuputukan at nag-iingay sa malapit. Sa ginagawa nila, pinakaapektado ang mga matatanda, kabataan, at maysakit.

Ni hindi man lang nila mabigyan ng oras ng pahinga ang masa na maghapong nagbabanat ng buto habang ang mga sundalo nila ay pinauulanan lang ng sweldo. Kahit sa tradisyunal na selebrasyon ng masa sa Pasko at Bagong Taon, ipagpapatuloy pa rin nila ang mga pagpapaputok, operasyong saywar at kombat sa mga baryo at sakahan ng masa. Dagdag-patunay na naman ito sa layunin ng pasistang militar na pangibabawan ang mga sibilyan na upisyal at maghari-harian sa kanayunan.

Pinagbantaan pa ni Almagro ang midya na pwede silang kasuhan sa paglalantad sa terorismo at mga paglabag sa karapatang pantao ng 802nd IBde sa Leyte. Hungkag ang mga “paggunita” nila sa Internasyunal na Araw ng Karapatang Pantao noong Disyembre 10, na layong itago ang pagkamuhi nila sa karapatan ng mamamayan sa malayang pamamahayag.

Hinihikayat namin ang masa at midya na patuloy na ilantad ang mga paglabag sa karapatang pantao ng pesteng militar sa mga komunidad. Gulo at takot ang dala nila at nararapat lang silang palayasin.

The post Pesteng CAFGU sa Leyte, nagpaputok sa loob ng baryo appeared first on PRWC | Philippine Revolution Web Central.

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The unlocked smartphone of PSMS Rommel Aguilar, the member of 1st Negros Occidental Provincial Mobile Force Company (NOCPMFC) killed in a firefight with Roselyn Jean Pelle Command-New People’s Army (RJPC-NPA) fighters in Calatrava last December 7, has uncovered the extent of police counterinsurgency intelligence networks in Escalante City and the towns of Toboso and Calatrava; all in Negros Occidental.

The classified information it contained also identified their key assets and provided the list of all their paid informants.

Aguilar served as the commanding officer of PMFC’s maneuver platoon stationed within the sugarcane transloading facility of despotic landlord Tim Ballestetos situated in Barangay Mabini, Escalante City.

Aside from this command responsibility, Aguilar also worked as chief handler of all police counter-insurgency intelligence operatives, assets and informants in said city and town. Many of his assets were former NPA members turned traitors and counterrevolutionary agents. Among them is Benjie Agrabidor alias “Astig” of Sitio Minasug-ang, Barangay Tabun-ac and several others.

RJPC-NPA called on these exposed assets to surrender and mend their anti-people and counter-revolutionary ways before the full force and long arm of revolutionary justice catch on them wherever they maybe.

The post Slain cop’s device bared information on PNP's intel networks appeared first on PRWC | Philippine Revolution Web Central.

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By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, December 20, 2025

Candidates for the U.S. Congress usually have websites, and often those websites include some minimal platform (what they would do if elected). Sometimes there’s none at all. Sometimes there’s a great deal of substance on numerous topics. But the vast majority of Congressional candidates have no foreign policy whatsoever. They want to be given a job to oversee a discretionary budget of which some 60 percent goes to militarism, yet they make zero mention of war, peace, diplomacy, weapons sales, bases, treaties, international law, budgetary priorities, or 96 percent of humanity. They clearly do not think that the military spending and wars they will be responsible for will help them get elected.

Would a platform that was serious about peace help them get elected? It might. To the limited extent that it has been tried, it has tended to be a boost or at least not a burden.

This is what I think a decent and humane foreign policy section of a Congressional campaign website would look like:

From the moment I am elected I will work to organize the public and my colleagues, regardless of their party or the party of the president, to move resources from military spending to urgent human and environmental needs at home and abroad. I will pull together a caucus publicly committed to voting no on any military spending that is not at least 10 percent lower than the previous year — and voting no on every related procedural vote and otherwise working to impede the current gargantuan levels of military spending or increases thereto.

I will also introduce and work to pass legislation to

• assist individuals, businesses, and localities in transitioning to peaceful industries,
• require compliance with the Treaty on Nuclear Nonproliferation,
• mandate both the elimination of U.S. nuclear weapons over the next 10 years and negotiations to effect the elimination of nuclear weapons by other nations,
• mandate the closure over the next 5 years of all U.S. military bases outside of the United States,
• end all military assistance to foreign governments,
• end all weapons shipments to foreign governments, with severe criminal penalties for violations of a practice already often done in violation of laws,
• establish a cabinet-level department of compliance with international law,
• introduce a privileged resolution to compel a vote on preventing any threatened or ending any current war,
• create a department of unarmed civilian defense to train the U.S. public in nonviolent noncooperation with foreign militaries,
• abolish draft registration, military advertising, ROTC, and JROTC,
• abolish joining the military as a path to citizenship,
• establish a global marshall plan to provide humanitarian aid,
• create, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., a memorial to all the victims of all wars.

The post Model Campaign Platform appeared first on World BEYOND War.

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Two of China’s aircraft carriers, including its biggest and best, have docked at the same naval base near the Yellow Sea, raising suggestions that another dual-carrier exercise is on the horizon. Satellite images circulating on Chinese social media this week show the Fujian, which was officially commissioned last month, docked at a naval base in Qingdao in eastern China’s Shandong province. In one of the images purportedly taken on Thursday, the Liaoning, China’s first aircraft carrier, docked...

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82% of Britain supports an economic transformation of the country, according to polling from anthropologist Jason Hickel and the Lancet. This is brilliant news for Zarah Sultana MP who is campaigning for a

socialist economy that includes workers running their workplaces through cooperatives. It means public services run for need, not profit, with workers and users on the boards of those organisations. Democratic ownership. And it means the entire economy run by workers, not the billionaires and the corporations that run it today.

The Zarah Sultana transformation with huge majority support

The survey asked a large representative sample of people in the UK whether they support a full proposal for transforming the economy, which included:

• Scaling down unnecessary production that is ecologically damaging
• Reducing economic inequality
• Delivering universal public services with a public job guarantee, re-organising “production around need”
• Democratising finance and production lines
• Removing neo-colonial extraction of “unequal exchange” from the Global South to the north

Hickel pointed out that other studies also show strong support for “eco-socialist” policies. The academic also said the polling shows that

the transformative vision and policies advanced by ecosocialism are popular and can form the basis of a winning political campaign. The common notion that these ideas are too “radical” and cannot gain support, is clearly wrong. People want these things, and are likely to support political leaders who can credibly promise to deliver them.

The main obstacle to transformation is not popular will, but the capitalist class that currently holds predominant power over production and within political institutions.

Perhaps Your Party (or/ and the Greens) don’t need an electoral pact with a more ‘progressive’ Labour party — after Keir Starmer — to win a majority in the UK.

Job guarantee

One policy that is largely absent from discussions within progressive parties is a job guarantee. And the Lancet polling shows it’s popular. When the rate of people, in the UK, who are not in employment has risen to 5.1% (at around 1.85 million), this is a policy worth considering. Especially when one notes that a further 9.1 million people are economically inactive.

At the same time, in the three months leading up to September 2025, the UK reported approximately 717,000 job vacancies. So there are millions more people who are not in employment than there are jobs, before taking into account whether they have the skills necessary.

Meanwhile, 22% of people work a 60+ hour week in the UK and many more work 50+ hours, while unemployment figures continue to rise.

This makes no sense. People should be sharing such jobs rather than some working zero hours and some over 60 hours. A jobs guarantee could help re-organise the economy and ensure people have both fulfilment and a lot of time for socialising with friends and family, as well as their interests.

Campaigning labels

Another striking finding from the Lancet polling was that labels are highly important when campaigning. When asked about the label “de-growth” without any description, only up to 26% of UK respondents supported it. And when asked about the label “eco-socialism” without any description, only up to 58% of respondents supported it.

Progressive parties should take heed: traditional wording isn’t the way forward. It’s better to talk in language that isn’t politically charged.

The polling from Hickel and the Lancet used two groups in the UK and found some variation in results. But the study is certainly promising for anyone who wants progressive change.

By James Wright

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On December 16, 2025, the Dublin City Council in California unanimously passed a resolution formally opposing reopening or reusing the notorious FCI Dublin prison for detention of any kind, including as an immigration jail. The resolution also urged the relevant federal agencies to “engage in open and transparent communication with the City regarding any decisions affecting the site.

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