Matt Kennard

A ground-breaking investigative account of how the British Empire was not dismantled after the Second World War but merely repackaged.

An explosive investigation into how America’s longest wars created a threat from within by flooding the U. S. military with extremists now fueling MAGA, domestic terror, and the global far right. In this new edition of Irregular Army, investigative journalist Matt Kennard delivers a searing exposé of how the U. S. military’s recruitment crisis during the War on Terror opened the ranks to some of the most dangerous elements in American society—white supremacists, neo-Nazis, gang members, and convicted criminals. This updated edition deepens the original’s urgent warning, connecting those recruitment policies directly to the rise of MAGA extremism, Trumpism, and the global resurgence of fascism. Drawing on years of on-the-ground reporting and interviews with extremist veterans and military insiders, Kennard reveals how the Pentagon knowingly empowered violent ideologues in its desperation to staff the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Now back on American soil—and in some cases in positions of power—many of these veterans see their mission continuing through race war fantasies, far-right organizing, and criminal enterprises. With chilling clarity, Irregular Army links the War on Terror’s domestic fallout to the January 6 insurrection, the militarization of MAGA politics, and the broader threats of global instability. As Trump returns to the White House and the Pentagon edges further right, Kennard’s book is an essential account of how American imperial violence abroad is fueling authoritarian danger at home—and around the world.

As European empires crumbled in the 20th century, the power structures that had dominated the world for centuries were up for renegotiation. Yet instead of a rebirth for democracy, what emerged was a silent coup – namely, the unstoppable rise of global corporate power. Exposing the origins of this epic power grab as well as its present-day consequences, Silent Coup is the result of two investigative journalists' reports from 30 countries around the world. It provides an explosive guide to the rise of a corporate empire that now dictates how resources are allocated, how territories are governed, and how justice is defined. Now in paperback for the first time, this edition includes a new foreword by Jeremy Corbyn.

While working for the Financial Times, investigative journalist Matt Kennard had unbridled access to the crème de la crème of the global elite. From slanging matches with Henry Kissinger to afternoon coffees with the man who captured Che Guevara, Kennard spent four years gathering extraordinarily honest testimony from the horse's mouth on how the global economic system works away from the convenient myths. It left him with only one conclusion: the world as we know it is run by an exclusive class of American racketeers who operate with virtually unlimited weapons and money, and a reach much too close to home. Owing to the very nature of the Financial Times, however, Kennard was not able to publish these findings as part of his day job. Enter The Racket, now in a fully updated second edition. This tell-all book, reported from all corners of the world, will transform everything you thought you knew about how the world works—and in whose interests. Kennard reports not only from across the United States, but from the United Kingdom, the Caribbean, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East. In doing so he provides startlingly clear and concrete evidence of unchecked, high-level, interrelated systems of exploitation all over the world. At the same time, through encounters with high-profile opponents of the racket such as Thom Yorke, Damon Albarn, and Gael García Bernal, Kennard offers a glimpse of a developing resistance, which needs to win. Now more relevant than ever, this 2nd edition contains a new preface by the author and a new foreword by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges.

As European empires crumbled in the 20th century, the power structures that had dominated the world for centuries were up for renegotiation. Yet instead of a rebirth for democracy, what emerged was a silent coup – namely, the unstoppable rise of global corporate power. Exposing the origins of this epic power grab as well as its present-day consequences, Silent Coup is the result of two investigative journalists' reports from 30 countries around the world. It provides an explosive guide to the rise of a corporate empire that now dictates how resources are allocated, how territories are governed, and how justice is defined.

Since the launch of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars-now the longest wars in American history-the US military has struggled to recruit troops. It has responded, as Matt Kennard's explosive investigative report makes clear, by opening its doors to neo-Nazis, white supremacists, gang members, criminals of all stripes, the overweight, and the mentally ill. Based on several years of reporting, Irregular Army includes extensive interviews with extremist veterans and leaders of far-right hate groups-who spoke openly of their eagerness to have their followers acquire military training for a coming domestic race war. As a report commissioned by the Department of Defense itself put it, "Effectively, the military has a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy pertaining to extremism." Irregular Army connects some of the War on Terror's worst crimes to this opening-up of the US military. With millions of veterans now back in the US and domestic extremism on the rise, Kennard's book is a stark warning about potential dangers facing Americans-from their own soldiers.