Alfred W. McCoy

Alfred W. McCoy is the J.R.W. Smail Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is the author of Policing America’s Empire: The United States, the Philippines, and the Rise of the Surveillance State (University of Wisconsin), which is the source for much of the material in this essay.

How a pink flower defeated the world’s sole superpower

The US must stop talking about sending the next wave of troops to Afghanistan, and tackle the country's dependence on illicit opium instead.

By Alfred W. McCoy

/ 25 Feb 2016

Surveillance blowback:  the making of the US surveillance state, 1898-2020

For well over a century, what might be called ‘surveillance blowback’ from America’s wars has ensured the creation of an ever more massive and omnipresent internal security and surveillance apparatus. Its future (though not ours) looks bright indeed.

By Alfred W. McCoy

/ 17 Jul 2013

Alfred W. McCoy

How a pink flower defeated the world’s sole superpower

Surveillance blowback: the making of the US surveillance state, 1898-2020

Surveillance blowback:  the making of the US surveillance state, 1898-2020