Hezbollah's Long War Is With America Too
Drawing on his experience as a Marine Corps officer during the 2006 evacuation of Lebanon, Elliot Ackerman reflects on Hezbollah, Iran, and the broader network of authoritarian powers challenging the...
Trump's Medal of Dishonor
In this essay for The Atlantic, Elliot Ackerman reflects on Donald Trump's comments comparing the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the Medal of Honor. Drawing on his experience as a...
The Trump Campaign Has Peaked Too Soon
In this Atlantic essay, Elliot Ackerman uses military theory to analyze the 2024 presidential campaign. Drawing on the concept of the "culminating point" from Carl von Clausewitz, he argues that...
In Trump, I See a Combat Leader
Following the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, Elliot Ackerman analyzes the former president’s reaction through the perspective of a Marine combat leader. Drawing on his experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan,...
Lower the Volume
In this essay for The Atlantic, Elliot Ackerman draws on his experiences as a Marine officer in Iraq to examine political violence, democratic responsibility, and the dangers of allowing politics...
The Two Marys
Elliot Ackerman reflects on political legitimacy, passion, and instability through the intertwined stories of Marie Antoinette and Mary Queen of Scots.
War-Gaming for Democracy
In this essay for The Atlantic, Elliot Ackerman attends a political war game designed to simulate the first days of a second Trump administration. As participants explore scenarios involving militias,...
The One Element Keeping Ukraine From Total Defeat
In this essay for The Atlantic, Elliot Ackerman reviews Yaroslav Trofimov’s book Our Enemies Will Vanish, an account of Ukraine’s first year resisting Russia’s invasion. Ackerman examines the role of...
The Biden Administration's Slow Yes
In this TIME essay, Elliot Ackerman examines the strategic consequences of the Biden administration's gradual military support for Ukraine. He argues that delays in providing advanced weapons allowed Russia to...
Meet the Super SPAC
In this essay for The Atlantic, Elliot Ackerman explores how the political organization No Labels has built a nationwide ballot-access infrastructure that could transform presidential elections. Drawing parallels to financial...
A Knife Fight in a Phone Booth
In this essay for The Atlantic, Elliot Ackerman draws on his experience leading Marines during the Second Battle of Fallujah to explain the brutal realities of urban warfare. Comparing the...
Christopher Nolan’s Big Bang
In this review of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, Elliot Ackerman examines the film’s portrayal of J. Robert Oppenheimer and the invention of the atomic bomb. Moving beyond cinema, Ackerman reflects on...
Prigozhin’s Loss Is Ukraine’s Gain
In this essay for The Atlantic, Elliot Ackerman examines the fallout from Yevgeny Prigozhin’s failed rebellion and what the likely weakening of the Wagner Group means for Russia’s war in...
The Key to America’s Victory in the Second World War
In this essay for The Atlantic, Elliot Ackerman revisits the work of legendary war correspondent Ernie Pyle through the reissue of Brave Men. Ackerman argues that Pyle understood a fundamental...
Notes From a Cemetery
In this essay for The Atlantic, Elliot Ackerman shares an excerpt from Halcyon, exploring the relationship between personal memory, national remembrance, and the way societies honor their dead. Through a...