@costsofwar.bsky.social
The human, budgetary, environmental, and social costs of U.S. wars and military operations, at home and abroad. Housed at Brown University's Watson School of International and Public Affairs at costsofwar.org.
@costsofwar.bsky.socialRead the cultural analysis, "The Militarization of Toys," part of the Consuming War series: costsofwar.watson.brown.edu/paper/consum...
@costsofwar.bsky.socialFrom 1989 to 1991, over 60,000 military Barbie dolls were sold on U.S. military bases around the world. Embedding military values into toys blurs the line between play and real-world militarism.
@costsofwar.bsky.socialWebinar: "The Impacts of Military Activity and War on the Planet" featuring Doug Weir, Nico Edwards, Patrick Bigger and Costs of War's Neta Crawford
October 14, 2026, 12:30 PM EDT
Register: bit.ly/4xkYB9Y
Organized by Institute for Systems Engineering and Computers at Coimbra (INESCC).
@costsofwar.bsky.socialThe costs of these wars are profound, and we will continue to pay for them for decades. [END]
@costsofwar.bsky.socialThese wars also contributed to a host of social and political costs: increased surveillance, loss of civil liberties and freedom of speech, indefinite detention and torture, police militarization and much more. [4/5] costsofwar.watson.brown.edu/costs/social...
@costsofwar.bsky.socialInstead, the trillions of dollars spent on the post-9/11 wars filled the coffers of weapons manufacturers. [3/5] costsofwar.watson.brown.edu/paper/profit...
@costsofwar.bsky.socialThe post-9/11 wars that kicked off 25 years ago have cost the U.S. over $8 trillion dollars. That's public money that could have been spent on infrastructure, education, environmental protection and healthcare, among others. [2/5] costsofwar.watson.brown.edu/costs/economic
@costsofwar.bsky.socialOn Oct. 7, 2001, the so-called "War on Terror" began with the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan.
Twenty-five years later, more than 4.5 million people have died in post-9/11 war zones from the direct and indirect impacts of war. [THREAD] costsofwar.watson.brown.edu/paper/overview
@costsofwar.bsky.socialOctober 7 marks 25 years since the first strike in the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and the start of the post-9/11 wars.
www.military.com/operation-en...
@costsofwar.bsky.socialFrom December 2023 to May 2025, 46 U.S. airstrike incidents resulted in at least 576 civilian casualties: 213 people were killed and 363 were injured, including 50 children and 25 women.
Read the report, in collaboration with @mhren.bsky.social: costsofwar.watson.brown.edu/paper/YemenA...
@costsofwar.bsky.socialA month after we released figures on civilian deaths in Yemen due to U.S. strikes, and amid reports of over 1,700 civilians killed in war with Iran, officials say the Pentagon will hold a conference to discuss ways to limit civilian casualties in combat operations. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/01/u...
@costsofwar.bsky.socialU.S. military expenditures last year were at least $1.5 trillion, writes Costs of War contributor @david-vine.bsky.social. "If Congress grants Trump’s requests, we’ll be spending $2 trillion to $3 trillion on the military and its wars." www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
@costsofwar.bsky.socialThe U.S. spent more than $20 billion on military aid to Israel between fall 2023 and fall 2025, reports The New York Times, citing Costs of War. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/30/u...
@costsofwar.bsky.socialRead the research on the human costs of war in Iraq and other post-9/11 war zones: costsofwar.watson.brown.edu/finding/huma...
@costsofwar.bsky.socialSince the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, as many as 210,000 Iraqi civilians were killed, along with 4,599 U.S. service members. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/0...
@costsofwar.bsky.social"The administration steals from taxpayers to enrich the powerful and commit probable war crimes abroad," writes Sarah Jones at @nymag.com, citing Costs of War research on the $4.7 billion spent on operations in Venezuela, the Caribbean, and Eastern Pacific. nymag.com/intelligence...
@periumass.bsky.socialReposted by @costsofwar.bsky.socialTomorrow, join the @gamechangerspolicy.bsky.social webinar, “Cutting the Military Budget While Improving Real Security”
Date: Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026
4 p.m./5 p.m. ET
Register for the webinar: bit.ly/GCWebinarLabor
@ips-dc.org @nationalpriorities.bsky.social @costsofwar.bsky.social
@costsofwar.bsky.socialFrom 2020-2024, the U.S. government invested over twice as much money in five weapons companies as it spent on diplomacy and international aid. costsofwar.watson.brown.edu/paper/profit...
@costsofwar.bsky.socialJoin us for the @gamechangerspolicy.bsky.social webinar: “Cutting the Military Budget While Improving Real Security”
Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 4pm ET
With Lindsay Koshgarian, @sunjeevbery.bsky.social, @hannahomestead.bsky.social and Costs of War's Heidi Peltier.
Register: bit.ly/GCWebinarLabor
@costsofwar.bsky.socialEven some U.S. defense workers agree: the military’s emissions are a huge problem for the climate. costsofwar.watson.brown.edu/paper/uk-and...
![Quote: "Just greenwashing isn't going to do it. Just putting solar panels up isn't going to do it. So we're trying to stress that the only way to really lower emissions of the military [is] to make the military smaller." — U.S. military industry worker](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:d4gzkcunlvwtlrewpcv7gci2/bafkreidvjz5cbutlcg6pi6dojqpars6be7wwwygghdwex7fabtb33f5gh4@jpeg)
