Vandenberg’s Dark Past, Rwandan Sportswashing, and the Surveillance State

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Now that you’re back from a few days off, I am once again asking you to donate to Inkstick during our annual NewsMatch fundraising campaign. Do us a solid and help out? It’s the holiday season, after all.

Last week, Inkstick fellow Hannah Bowlus took a long look back at the very dark past of one US military base — and the times it nearly brought the country to the brink of war.

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Bringing us back to the current moment, grim as it is, another Inkstick fellow reported on the ever-expanding American surveillance state. More than anything else, as Tyler Hicks explains, growing surveillance means more risks for the people who are already among the most vulnerable amid the country’s right-wing crackdown.

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“Behind Rwanda’s World Cycling Debut, a Regime Carefully Curating Its Image” by KC Cheng (Nov. 24)

As the first African host of the Road World Championships, Rwanda projected stability and security to the world — but behind the polished streets and cheering crowds, dissent was tightly controlled.

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“Inside the Fight Against the Growing US Surveillance State” by Tyler Hicks (Nov. 25)

Attorneys and advocates are sounding the alarm, arguing rapidly advancing technology enables quiet, pervasive surveillance that disproportionately harms immigrants and people of color.

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“How Vandenberg Became a ‘One-Stop Shop for Peace Activists’” by Hannah Bowlus (Nov. 26)

Across the decades, a US military base known as Vandenberg has seen failed launches, caused close calls with foreign adversaries, and fueled anti-war protests from California to the Marshall Islands.

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“Deep Dive: The US Sent Migrants to ‘Hell’ in El Salvador” by Inkstick (Nov. 28)

In a new report, Human Rights Watch and Cristosal documented a pattern of severe abuse and procedural failures surrounding the transfer and detention of Venezuelan migrants who were removed by US authorities to El Salvador in early 2025.

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