Recently Published

Obama’s ISIS War Request Is an “Extraordinary Opportunity” for Congress

by Andrew Bacevich

Pretend that it’s the spring of 1970. President Richard Nixon has just sent US troops into Cambodia, expanding the war.  Angry?  Then why aren't you angry now?

This Is When Muslims in the Middle East Turned to Extremism

by Richard Drake

It started with a treaty few in the West even remember: The Treaty of Sèvres (1920)

War Babies: The Generation that Changed America

by Richard Pells

They’re the generation that never got due attention.

You Can Blame Juan Peron for Argentina’s Inflation

by Eduardo Singerman

It was the result of out and out fraud.

5 Ways Pirate Ships Functioned as a True Democracy

by Rachel Rolnick

This is something you don’t learn in school. Pirates pioneered many of the features we associate with democracy.

Selma Is Now? No, Not Really.

by James B. LaGrand

2014 ≠ 1965 or 1955 or the 1890s

Ukraine: The Cuban Missile Crisis in Reverse

by William R. Polk

How the process of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and what we face today over the Ukraine compare.  It's not reassuring. But there's a way out. 

Do You Remember Dag Hammarskjöld? You Should. An Interview with Biographer Roger Lipsey

by Robin Lindley

The UN recently reopened the investigation into Hammarskjold's death in 1961.

Why Hollywood’s Diversity Problem Can’t Just Be Solved with Fancy Award Ceremonies and Gold Statues

by Cara Caddoo

For most of its history, Hollywood has worked hard to identify—and undermine—the work of black actors and filmmakers.

What Would Happen If Humanity Was Suddenly Rebooted?

by Roland Hughes

“The entire point of this op ed is to get you, the learned few in the hallowed halls, to focus on gathering all of the basic knowledge in a form which will survive flood, fire, and nuclear winter.”

Seven Reasons Why We Should Not Send Weapons to Ukraine

by Walter G. Moss

The hawks who urge us to arm Ukraine say we need to remember 1938. But Putin’s not Hitler.

3 Lessons from the French Revolution European Policymakers Should Keep in Mind

by Rebecca L. Spang

The moment has come to diversify our analogy portfolio to include the French Revolution if we are to understand the Euro crisis.

America Is More than the 82nd Airborne. We Need to Let the Muslim World Know that.

by Greg Barnhisel

Using culture to define us is one of the lessons of the Cold War we need to relearn.

When a City Turns White, What Happens to Its Black History?

by David S. Rotenstein

Case Study: Decatur, Georgia

The Myth of the Rational Actor

by Susan J. Matt

Why we need a social history of selfishness.

The Missing Chapter in the History of America’s Sixties Radicals

by Aaron Leonard

Fresh research shows that the FBI had a secret war on Maoists.

90 Years Later: Is It Time to Revise Our Understanding of the Underrated and Misunderstood Locarno Conference?

by Dr. Yoav J. Tenembaum

As a result of the Locarno Conference, Germany was admitted in 1926 into the League of Nations. Isn’t that worth remembering?

Why History Matters


by Charles Spencer

History comes alive when we connect with characters.

Why Is a French Library Refusing to Carry a History of Stalin’s Russia?

by Michael Dwyer

The book, by Geoffrey Roberts, was published by Yale University Press. Is this a case of censorship?

What’s the Matter with Kansas? Nothing

by Jason Weeden and Robert Kurzban

Working class whites mostly vote their interests, but they define their interests more broadly than many liberals want them to.