Phil Klay
@philklay.bsky.social
Author of Redeployment, Missionaries, and Uncertain Ground: Citizenship in an Age of Endless, Invisible War. Teaches at Fairfield University MFA.
“To a skeptical believer, the great mark of sincerity is the extent to which you attempt to live out your beliefs in your own life despite your own doubts, not the extent to which you silence those doubts or the doubts of others.”
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/o...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/o...
Opinion | Ash Wednesday and the Burden of Living Your Beliefs
www.nytimes.com
February 12, 2026 at 2:23 AM
“To a skeptical believer, the great mark of sincerity is the extent to which you attempt to live out your beliefs in your own life despite your own doubts, not the extent to which you silence those doubts or the doubts of others.”
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/o...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/o...
Wish I was in DC for this. Feb 21 at 5pm @politicsprose.bsky.social will honor the Washington Post’s Book World section, with reflections from former editors, critics and contributors.
politics-prose.com/tribute-book...
politics-prose.com/tribute-book...
A Tribute to Book World
Join our community and be the first to know about the latest book releases, exclusive offers, and exciting author events. Sign up for our newsletter today and never miss out!
politics-prose.com
February 9, 2026 at 8:33 PM
Wish I was in DC for this. Feb 21 at 5pm @politicsprose.bsky.social will honor the Washington Post’s Book World section, with reflections from former editors, critics and contributors.
politics-prose.com/tribute-book...
politics-prose.com/tribute-book...
Reposted by Phil Klay
@philklay.bsky.social saw this coming in his amazing novel Missionaries — which also has the scariest scene not written by Cormac McCarthy.
The ways a booming mercenary market pulls veteran soldiers abroad
Why so many Colombians fight in foreign wars
The ways a booming mercenary market pulls veteran soldiers abroad
econ.st
February 4, 2026 at 2:14 PM
@philklay.bsky.social saw this coming in his amazing novel Missionaries — which also has the scariest scene not written by Cormac McCarthy.
February 26, I’ll be in conversation with Chris Beha about his fantastic new book, WHY I AM NOT AN ATHEIST
February 2, 2026 at 5:43 PM
February 26, I’ll be in conversation with Chris Beha about his fantastic new book, WHY I AM NOT AN ATHEIST
“Education is for the student’s benefit, not for the benefit of their future employer…students go to school not merely to acquire skills but to develop an entire social and intellectual life: to have something good and to have it forever”
@thepointmag.bsky.social
thepointmag.com/examined-lif...
@thepointmag.bsky.social
thepointmag.com/examined-lif...
February 2, 2026 at 2:59 PM
“Education is for the student’s benefit, not for the benefit of their future employer…students go to school not merely to acquire skills but to develop an entire social and intellectual life: to have something good and to have it forever”
@thepointmag.bsky.social
thepointmag.com/examined-lif...
@thepointmag.bsky.social
thepointmag.com/examined-lif...
Reposted by Phil Klay
This is an important, credible, and damning article about the IDF in Gaza by Andy Milburn, a retired US Marine Raider colonel with combat experience from Fallujah and Mosul who maintained close contact with IDF officers during the war (while keeping a low public profile). Read the whole thing.
Gaza and the Conduct of Urban War: Civilian Harm, Risk, and Responsibility
Urban warfare is often invoked as an alibi: dense terrain, an embedded enemy, human shields, imperfect intelligence. These conditions are real but they do
warontherocks.com
January 29, 2026 at 1:54 PM
This is an important, credible, and damning article about the IDF in Gaza by Andy Milburn, a retired US Marine Raider colonel with combat experience from Fallujah and Mosul who maintained close contact with IDF officers during the war (while keeping a low public profile). Read the whole thing.
Reposted by Phil Klay
"I was in Afghanistan after 13 years of war—long after the exciting newness wore off and as domestic political opposition raged—and we still had Czech, Lithuanian, and Polish special forces, as well as conventional Australian, British, Bulgarian, Canadian, and Romanian units with us in Kandahar."
COMMENTARY: Our allies passed your test, Mr. President. Would we? | A former U.S. infantryman responds to Trump’s amnesiac take on Afghanistan.
Our allies passed your test, Mr. President. Would we?
A former U.S. infantryman responds to Trump’s amnesiac take on Afghanistan.
buff.ly
January 28, 2026 at 9:18 PM
"I was in Afghanistan after 13 years of war—long after the exciting newness wore off and as domestic political opposition raged—and we still had Czech, Lithuanian, and Polish special forces, as well as conventional Australian, British, Bulgarian, Canadian, and Romanian units with us in Kandahar."
Tonight!
I know what the actual trouble with men is, but I’ll only reveal it next week, at the @92ndstreety.bsky.social
January 29, 2026 at 4:14 PM
Tonight!
Reposted by Phil Klay
I wrote about my childhood friend Alexi Pretti. Please read it and share it and remember him as a human being. @theverge.com
I grew up with Alex Pretti
The kind-hearted ICU nurse shot by ICE agents was my childhood best friend.
www.theverge.com
January 27, 2026 at 4:45 PM
I wrote about my childhood friend Alexi Pretti. Please read it and share it and remember him as a human being. @theverge.com
It is remarkable how much of the Trump administration’s case to justify their actions depends on lying about stuff every American can see with their own eyes
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VBJ...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VBJ...
Minneapolis: Bash presses Gregory Bovino on Alex Pretti shooting
YouTube video by CNN
www.youtube.com
January 26, 2026 at 5:25 PM
It is remarkable how much of the Trump administration’s case to justify their actions depends on lying about stuff every American can see with their own eyes
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VBJ...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VBJ...
I know what the actual trouble with men is, but I’ll only reveal it next week, at the @92ndstreety.bsky.social
January 23, 2026 at 10:31 PM
I know what the actual trouble with men is, but I’ll only reveal it next week, at the @92ndstreety.bsky.social
“Security agencies staffed by dumb thugs are typically inept at identifying genuine subversive threats.”
Extraordinary piece
Extraordinary piece
When Elizabeth Tsurkov conducted fieldwork for her Ph.D. at Princeton University in 2023, an academic trip to Iraq unexpectedly turned into an immersive field study on the ways authoritarian regimes use brutality.
I Was Kidnapped by Idiots
An academic trip to Iraq unexpectedly turned into an immersive field study on the ways authoritarian regimes use brutality.
bit.ly
January 12, 2026 at 3:02 PM
“Security agencies staffed by dumb thugs are typically inept at identifying genuine subversive threats.”
Extraordinary piece
Extraordinary piece
At 19, I thought, “the Iraqi people were suffering under a brutal dictator…in the worst-case scenario, removing him would be a net good. What followed was civil war, mass death, swelling ranks of terror groups, genocide, mass rape, and slavery. “
I wrote about Venezuela
reason.com/2026/01/07/i...
I wrote about Venezuela
reason.com/2026/01/07/i...
I once supported regime change in Iraq. That’s why Venezuela worries me.
When we use our military and roll the dice with the fate of nations, the consequences play out in a much longer time frame than social media trends.
reason.com
January 7, 2026 at 9:55 PM
At 19, I thought, “the Iraqi people were suffering under a brutal dictator…in the worst-case scenario, removing him would be a net good. What followed was civil war, mass death, swelling ranks of terror groups, genocide, mass rape, and slavery. “
I wrote about Venezuela
reason.com/2026/01/07/i...
I wrote about Venezuela
reason.com/2026/01/07/i...
A note on the Venezuela attack.
When I began thinking about joining the military, in the lead up to Iraq in 2003, I thought that even in the worse case scenario, Iraq would be better off without a dictator.
When I began thinking about joining the military, in the lead up to Iraq in 2003, I thought that even in the worse case scenario, Iraq would be better off without a dictator.
January 6, 2026 at 4:45 PM
A note on the Venezuela attack.
When I began thinking about joining the military, in the lead up to Iraq in 2003, I thought that even in the worse case scenario, Iraq would be better off without a dictator.
When I began thinking about joining the military, in the lead up to Iraq in 2003, I thought that even in the worse case scenario, Iraq would be better off without a dictator.
“Our country has—through presidential aggrandizement accompanied by congressional authorization, delegation, and acquiescence—given one person, the president, a sprawling military and enormous discretion to use it in ways that can easily lead to a massive war. That is our system: One person decides”
January 3, 2026 at 7:45 PM
“Our country has—through presidential aggrandizement accompanied by congressional authorization, delegation, and acquiescence—given one person, the president, a sprawling military and enormous discretion to use it in ways that can easily lead to a massive war. That is our system: One person decides”
"And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart."
—Luke 2:19
A line I’ve always loved, from today’s readings.
—Luke 2:19
A line I’ve always loved, from today’s readings.
January 1, 2026 at 4:32 PM
"And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart."
—Luke 2:19
A line I’ve always loved, from today’s readings.
—Luke 2:19
A line I’ve always loved, from today’s readings.
He asked if I would sell my Christmas trees;
My woods—the young fir balsams like a place
Where houses all are churches and have spires.
I hadn’t thought of them as Christmas Trees.
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57834/...
My woods—the young fir balsams like a place
Where houses all are churches and have spires.
I hadn’t thought of them as Christmas Trees.
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57834/...
Christmas Trees
The city had withdrawn into itself And left at last the country to the country; When between whirls of snow not come to lie And whirls of foliage not yet laid, there drove A stranger to our yard, who ...
www.poetryfoundation.org
December 25, 2025 at 5:39 PM
He asked if I would sell my Christmas trees;
My woods—the young fir balsams like a place
Where houses all are churches and have spires.
I hadn’t thought of them as Christmas Trees.
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57834/...
My woods—the young fir balsams like a place
Where houses all are churches and have spires.
I hadn’t thought of them as Christmas Trees.
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57834/...
‘The professor surveys the classroom. He squints. “I think our students are getting arrested,” he says. And it so happens that they are.’
Superb essay by Santiago Ramos for @plough.bsky.social on literature under dictatorship.
www.plough.com/en/topics/cu...
Superb essay by Santiago Ramos for @plough.bsky.social on literature under dictatorship.
www.plough.com/en/topics/cu...
Paraguayans Don’t Read
Santiago Ramos points out that in a dictatorship, literature nurtures freedom. In a democracy, does it matter?
www.plough.com
December 19, 2025 at 8:45 PM
‘The professor surveys the classroom. He squints. “I think our students are getting arrested,” he says. And it so happens that they are.’
Superb essay by Santiago Ramos for @plough.bsky.social on literature under dictatorship.
www.plough.com/en/topics/cu...
Superb essay by Santiago Ramos for @plough.bsky.social on literature under dictatorship.
www.plough.com/en/topics/cu...
This whole thing is weird for me, because I’m referenced in the article (as the last white millennial man to win the NBA, in 2014), but left out is that the success of my book is tied in with my identity as a vet. And of course Vance’s rise to fame was as the Appalachia explainer
t.co/fMiIfvz0qz
t.co/fMiIfvz0qz
December 18, 2025 at 4:04 PM
This whole thing is weird for me, because I’m referenced in the article (as the last white millennial man to win the NBA, in 2014), but left out is that the success of my book is tied in with my identity as a vet. And of course Vance’s rise to fame was as the Appalachia explainer
t.co/fMiIfvz0qz
t.co/fMiIfvz0qz
“There was dissent in the operations room over whether the survivors were viable targets after the first strike, according to two people”
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
How a U.S. admiral decided to kill two boat strike survivors
The controversial order given by Adm. Frank Bradley is under scrutiny from Congress. Inside the most consequential deliberation of his career.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 12, 2025 at 12:15 AM
“There was dissent in the operations room over whether the survivors were viable targets after the first strike, according to two people”
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
‘Pentagon officials largely kept State Department counterparts in the dark about strike operations, then scrambled to try to enlist diplomats to help deal with survivors, whom military officials referred to by specific terms that included “distressed mariners.”’
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/u...
Inside the Pentagon’s Scramble to Deal With Boat Strike Survivors
www.nytimes.com
December 10, 2025 at 11:58 PM
‘Pentagon officials largely kept State Department counterparts in the dark about strike operations, then scrambled to try to enlist diplomats to help deal with survivors, whom military officials referred to by specific terms that included “distressed mariners.”’
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/u...
Reposted by Phil Klay
My assessment of the Trump national security strategy: "it sees the United States’ adversaries as partners in that war, but it does not see how much U.S. power relies on the voluntary assistance of other countries."
The Only War the White House Is Ready for Is Culture War
The new U.S. National Security Strategy is a moral and strategic disaster.
foreignpolicy.com
December 8, 2025 at 7:50 PM
My assessment of the Trump national security strategy: "it sees the United States’ adversaries as partners in that war, but it does not see how much U.S. power relies on the voluntary assistance of other countries."
At an open house for a DOE middle school in NYC I asked what options there were for parents who wanted to minimize their kids’ time on electronic devices, and was told there weren’t any. Almost every class does work on devices.
Deeply frustrating.
Deeply frustrating.
December 8, 2025 at 4:07 PM
At an open house for a DOE middle school in NYC I asked what options there were for parents who wanted to minimize their kids’ time on electronic devices, and was told there weren’t any. Almost every class does work on devices.
Deeply frustrating.
Deeply frustrating.
“I can’t remember the first time I encountered the great indie rock band the Mountain Goats, perhaps because to know them at all feels like having known them forever.”
Becca Rothfeld on @themountaingoats.bsky.social
www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/1...
Becca Rothfeld on @themountaingoats.bsky.social
www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/1...
Review | John Darnielle takes Mountain Goats fans on a tour of his lyrics
In “This Year,” Darnielle adds notes and explanations to three decades’ worth of his strange, startling, funny and often beautiful words
www.washingtonpost.com
December 7, 2025 at 8:43 PM
“I can’t remember the first time I encountered the great indie rock band the Mountain Goats, perhaps because to know them at all feels like having known them forever.”
Becca Rothfeld on @themountaingoats.bsky.social
www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/1...
Becca Rothfeld on @themountaingoats.bsky.social
www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/1...
"You brood of vipers!
Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance.
And do not presume to say to yourselves,
'We have Abraham as our father.'
For I tell you,
God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones”
Matthew 3: 7-9
Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance.
And do not presume to say to yourselves,
'We have Abraham as our father.'
For I tell you,
God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones”
Matthew 3: 7-9
December 7, 2025 at 6:50 PM
"You brood of vipers!
Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance.
And do not presume to say to yourselves,
'We have Abraham as our father.'
For I tell you,
God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones”
Matthew 3: 7-9
Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance.
And do not presume to say to yourselves,
'We have Abraham as our father.'
For I tell you,
God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones”
Matthew 3: 7-9