The Cat Who Saved Me
I will never owe another cat the debt that I owe her.
Tom Nichols
Tom Nichols is a staff writer at The Atlantic and an author of the Atlantic Daily newsletter. He is a professor emeritus of national-security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College, where he taught for 25 years, and an instructor at the Harvard Extension School. He has served as a legislative aide in the Massachusetts House and the U.S. Senate. He writes about international security, nuclear weapons, Russia, and the challenges to democracy in the United States and around the world—along with occasional contrarian views on popular culture. His books include The Death of Expertise and Our Own Worst Enemy: The Assault From Within on Modern Democracy. He is also a five-time undefeated Jeopardy champion.
Latest
Courtesy of Tom Nichols Autocracies Are Winning the Information War
And the American craving for drama is helping them.
Illustration by Tyler Comrie A Failure of Imagination About Trump
American minds are not ready to think about how fast democracy could disintegrate.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / Getty The Wasteland Is Waiting for You
Amazon’s Fallout show gets the weirdness of the game just right.
Amazon Prime Don’t Let Trump Exhaust You
This election is about fortitude and endurance.
Bloomberg / Getty Supporting Trump Means Supporting a Culture of Violence
The former president is encouraging threats against his enemies—again.
Drew Angerer / Getty Evan Gershkovich’s Year in Captivity
The U.S. journalist is in prison because Vladimir Putin has made no pretense about using Americans as human bargaining chips.
Natalia Kolesnikova / Getty Russia’s Tragedy, Putin’s Humiliation
Expect wild claims from supporters of the humiliated dictator.
Contributor / Getty When Experts Fail
They saved us from disaster during the pandemic—but they also made costly errors.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Andrew Harnik / Getty; Drew Angerer / Getty; Joshua Roberts / Getty; Leigh Vogel / Getty. Trump’s Dangerous January 6–Pardon Promise
The convicted rioters are criminals, not hostages.
SAUL LOEB / Getty Putin’s Nuclear Theatrics
The Kremlin continues its clumsy nuclear games with threats to send Russian weapons to Belarus.
Anadolu / Getty The TV Shows That Don’t Solve Their Mysteries
True Detective was the last straw: I’m done with the mystery-box genre.
PictureLux / The Hollywood Archive / Alamy Donald Trump Is a National-Security Risk
The GOP candidate should not be given intelligence briefings.
Drew Angerer / Getty The Republican Coping Goes Into Overdrive
Many GOP elites seem to be in disbelief about Trump’s success.
Klaus Vedfelt / Getty It’s Time to End the Election Wishcasting
Trump versus Biden is inevitable, and everything is at stake.
China News Service / Getty Democracy’s Dark Winter
While a Russian dictator’s war goes on, venal would-be autocrats game the U.S. political and legal system.
David Ake / Getty Trump Delivers Another Autocratic Tirade
But many Americans seem to have gotten used to it.
Mandel Ngan / AFP via Getty Don’t Panic About Russian Space Weapons
There’s plenty to worry about here on Earth.
Anadolu / Getty Trump’s Contempt for Military Service
The GOP candidate’s shot at Nikki Haley’s husband is part of a pattern.
Pool / Getty Trump Encourages Putin to Attack NATO Members
At a rally on Saturday, the former president announced he would tell the Russians “to do whatever the hell they want” to states delinquent in their bills.
Win McNamee / Getty If Russia Wins
Republican obstructionism could lead to global disaster.
SOPA Images / Getty The Weirdest Presidential Election in History
An unserious nation faces dire choices.
Joe Sohm / Visions of America / Getty Ukraine Needs American Weapons, Not More GOP Drama
The GOP’s moral collapse threatens global security.
Anadolu / Getty The GOP’s Ongoing Moral Surrender to Trump
Conservative Republicans continue to abandon decency to defend Trump.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / Getty The DeSantis-Campaign Implosion Was Inevitable
And not just because he was a poor candidate
Scott Olson / Getty The Age of Incoherent Partisanship
One American political party has collapsed; the other is holding together a fragile prodemocracy coalition.
PhotoQuest / Getty Trump Wants Revenge—And So Does His Base
Many of his voters can’t accept what’s happened over the past several years, and they blame other Americans.
Drew Angerer / Getty Biden Had the Power to Strike the Houthis
Every president has wide authority to use military force.
Bloomberg / Getty Lloyd Austin Owes Americans an Explanation
The secretary of defense has taken “full responsibility” for failing to inform the public of his hospitalization, but that’s not enough.
Anna Moneymaker / Getty Extremism in the Military Is a Problem
It doesn’t have to be big to be lethal.
JIM WATSON / Getty Claudine Gay’s Resignation Was Overdue
Her accusers acted in bad faith, but they’re not wrong.
Kevin Dietsch / Getty The Secret Joys of Geriatric Rock
It’s a fine line between clever and stupid.
Shari Black Velvet / Alamy Stock Photo The Most Unsettling ‘Christmas Carol’
Why my father and I loved George C. Scott
RGR Collection / Alamy Feelings and Vibes Can’t Sustain a Democracy
America could be heading for an election where nothing matters.
Taylor Glascock / Bloomberg / Getty The Wrong Questions About Ukraine’s War
Exit strategies are nothing more than hubris.
Anatolii Stepanov / Getty The President Is Not Superman
Democracies around the world are falling into leader-worship.
Xavi Torrent / Getty A Military Loyal to Trump
In 2020, the armed forces were a bulwark against Donald Trump’s antidemocratic designs. Changing that would be a high priority in a second term.
Alex Wong / Getty What Trump’s Second Term Could Look Like
The Atlantic’s writers offer a detailed warning about the future.
Alon Skuy / Getty The Republicans Who Won’t Quit Trump
The GOP establishment is coming home to the former president—again.
Alon Skuy / Getty Quiet Competence Could Cost Joe Biden the Election
Americans may claim to want less drama, but they’re addicted to it.
Anna Moneymaker / Getty
