Person

Stuart Schrader

Bylines

Cop-Killer Bullets

Blue Power arrives in Washington.

by Stuart Schrader via n+1 on April 14, 2026
Authoritarianism from Below

To some cops and their unions, the federal invasions of American cities are a chance to undercut the already fraying democratic constraints on police power.

by Stuart Schrader via New York Review of Books
This publication restricts nonsubscriber access to some or all of its articles.
on February 14, 2026
Cops at War: How World War II Transformed U.S. Policing

As wartime labor shortages depleted police forces, and fear of crime grew, chiefs turned to new initiatives to strengthen and professionalize their officers.

by Stuart Schrader via Modern American History on June 28, 2021
Trump Has Brought America’s Dirty Wars Home

The authoritarian tactics we’ve exported around the world in the name of national security are now being deployed in Portland.

by Stuart Schrader via The New Republic
This publication restricts nonsubscriber access to some or all of its articles.
on July 21, 2020
Police Reform Won’t Fix a System That Was Built to Abuse Power

The history of American policing shows that it was designed to eat up resources and subjugate the civilian population.

by Stuart Schrader via The Nation
This publication restricts nonsubscriber access to some or all of its articles.
on June 12, 2020
Wanted: An End to Police Terror

The pursuit of justice has been defined by a rote binary of punished in a cage versus unpunished and free.

by Stuart Schrader via Viewpoint Magazine on June 9, 2020
Yes, American Police Act Like Occupying Armies. They Literally Studied Their Tactics

The founders of modern policing quelled foreign uprisings. ‘Demilitarizing’ police will be harder than taking away their tanks.

by Stuart Schrader via The Guardian on June 8, 2020
When Police Treat Protesters Like Insurgents, Sending in Troops Seems Logical

Militarized police forces laid the groundwork for using troops to quell protest.

by Stuart Schrader via Washington Post
This publication restricts nonsubscriber access to some or all of its articles.
on June 4, 2020
The Murderous Legacy of Cold War Anticommunism

The US-backed Indonesian mass killings of 1965 reshaped global politics, securing a decisive victory for U.S. interests against Third World self-determination.

by Stuart Schrader via Boston Review on May 17, 2020
The Imperial History of US Policing: An Interview with Stuart Schrader

Dan Berger interviews Stuart Schrader about his new book on US imperialism.

by Dan Berger, Stuart Schrader via Black Perspectives on January 29, 2020
Tear Gas and the U.S. Border

How did it come to pass that a weapon banned for military use was deployed against asylum-seekers on the U.S. border?

by Stuart Schrader via Process: A Blog for American History on December 6, 2018
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Badges without Borders: How Global Counterinsurgency Transformed American Policing

Stuart Schrader

Blue Power: How Police Organized To Protect And Serve Themselves

Stuart Schrader

Viewing 1–9 of 9

American Prestige

Podcast

American Prestige

The Global Turn of American Policing

This conversation covers the global history of American policing and how US police power has been shaped by struggles both at home and abroad. They discuss police opposition to oversight in the 1960s, the development of the Border Patrol and ICE, Joe Biden’s “tough on crime” record, Trump’s plan to outsource detention, the ways counterterrorism blurred into immigration enforcement, and the resistance on display in Los Angeles this summer.

August 31, 2025

NYPD in Bronx, NY

Blue Power

The rise of police unions, from a backlash against law enforcement professionalization to a political force in the carceral state.

by Robert Dubovy via The Metropole on April 9, 2026

“The Police Know Guerrilla Warfare”

During the Cold War, cops at home and military personnel abroad exchanged techniques and tactics to mete out repression and thwart leftist insurgencies.

by Kyle Burke via Jacobin on December 20, 2019

The Thick Blue Line

How the United States became the world’s police force.

by Patrick Blanchfield via Bookforum on December 2, 2019

Image of army soldiers and weapons facing crowd of protestors holding signs

A Theater of State Panic

Beginning in 1967, the Army built fake towns to train police and military officers in counterinsurgency.

by Bench Ansfield via New York Review of Books on September 16, 2022

Police and Racist Vigilantes: Even Worse Than You Think

Is Trump a fascist? You should ask the same question of your local police.

by John Knefel via The American Prospect on September 10, 2020

Militarized police and an armored car.

The Racist Origins of U.S. Policing

Modern policing is linked to overseas colonial projects of conquest, occupation, and rule. Demilitarization requires uprooting that worldview.

by Julian Go via Foreign Affairs on July 16, 2020

The Invention of the Police

Why did American policing get so big, so fast? The answer, mainly, is slavery.

by Jill Lepore via The New Yorker on July 13, 2020

Seattle police dressed in riot gear, standing in front of graffiti that reads "abolish the cops."

Police Reform Hasn't Stopped the Killings Before. It Won't Now Either.

Police reform is a time-honored counter-insurgency measure to quell rebellion.

by Garrett Felber via Truthout on July 5, 2020

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