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(Fore)Closing on the American Dream

… with bad news, my joyful parents called to let me know that they had paid off the mortgage on the home they had owned … fund an expansion to his small business. My childhood home was both my parents' largest financial burden and their … the homeowner expects to sell soon at a lofty profit, like when the housing market is booming, or if the homeowner …
Cover of "Our Hemisphere"? The United States in Latin America, from 1776 to the Twenty-First Century by Britta H. Crandall and Russell C. Crandall.

Episodes of Ambivalent Empire

Review of “Our Hemisphere”? The United States in Latin America, from 1776 to the Twenty-First Century by : Britta H. Crandall and Russell C. Crandall (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2021)
… National Security Advisor to President Donald Trump , said when asked about the U.S. administration’s vocal support for the beleaguered … of U.S. policymakers showed they believed Latin America was part of “our hemisphere” in the possessive sense, at …
The other side of The Shore, depicting the Maritime House, third from the left. The former headquarters of the National Seamen’s Union are now flats.

A Postcard from Leith, Scotland

… As you ride the Number 22 bus towards Ocean Terminal, you watch the city … pubs, Indian restaurants, and the occasional Tesco Express. When you reach the end of the long Leith Walk, you are … Banana Flats once embodied everything that Edinburgh felt was wrong with Leith. They were overcrowded, riddled with …
A bus that has been blown up by terrorists

A Who’s Who of Jihadi Terrorism in Europe

Review of Islamist Terrorism in Europe: A History, by Petter Nesser (New York: Oxford University Press, 2015)
… A History , ends on a very ominous note. Whilst penning the conclusion to his book in January 2015, Nesser noted a … Nesser’s observation would seem prophetic in November 2015, when small teams of terrorists shocked the world by … the Air France flight 8969 hijacking on 24th December 1994, was orchestrated by the GIA, an Islamist group in Algeria …
Cover of The Collapse: The Accidental Opening of the Berlin Wall by Mary Elise Sarotte.

…And the Walls Came Tumbling Down: A History of Contingency and Happenstance

Review of The Collapse: The Accidental Opening of the Berlin Wall, by Mary Elise Sarotte New York: Basic Books, 2014.
… On November 9, 1989 the wall that had long separated East and West Berlin ceased … fall of the Berlin Wall—as detailed by Mary Elise Sarotte—was the result of a series of insignificant gestures, of … citywide marches. The watershed moment came on October 9 when, unable to reach his superiors and overwhelmed by the
An orientalist nineteenth century Russian view of Samarkand in the time of Timur.

A Castilian in Samarkand, 1404

…   On September 8, 1404, the Castilian diplomat Ruy Gonzales de Clavijo reached thethe man who Europeans called Tamurlane. If possible, he was to forge a peace treaty with the world-conqueror, whose … called the ‘archaic globalization’ of the world, a period when travelers from the Christian, Muslim and Chinese worlds …
Caster Semenya at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Woman, Man, Neither? The Predicament of a World-Class Runner

… Caster Semenya, the South African runner who won the women’s 800-meter race … declared intersexed. If she is, it means that she was born with some discrepancy between her external … were dishonest and fraudulent (say, in illegally voting when the franchise was limited to men), or were seeking …
An abandoned building in Chernobyl

A Postcard from Chernobyl

… In the early hours of April 26, 1986, the staff of the 4 th … system designed to shut down the reactor. The result was disaster. A power surge led to a series of explosions … tried at first to conceal and minimize the accident. Only when the radioactive cloud was detected over Sweden did the
Barack Obama was inaugurated at the United States Capitol on January 20, 2009.

The Strong Wind at His Back

… Well, the pundits were wrong. White voters didn’t change their … In his 1963 address, King looked hopefully to a day when blacks like his children would “not be judged by the …   The polls reveal, too, that America’s younger generation was more open to the idea of a black man running for …
From left to right, Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller in 2001.

Attorneys General Who Cry Wolf

… to watch for suspicious men, New Jersey postmarks and other signs that American security is sliding from bad to … violence, known as the “May Day Bomb Plot” of 1919, began when a package arrived at the office of Seattle’s mayor, Ole … seven American cities. One blew off the front of Palmer’s Washington home, killing the bomber in the process. …
An integrated classroom in Anacostia High School, Washington, D.C., in 1957.

The Unfinished Business of School Desegregation

The 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education has come … is an old problem and that parents do not stop fighting when it comes to their children’s education. Children’s real … to the city’s African-American schoolchildren. What Clark was criticizing was the continued impact of de facto …

The Question of Refugees: Past and Present

… A great deal of ink—and much blood—has been spilled during the current “ refugee crisis .” But what do we mean by that phrase? It describes what has happened recently when Syrian, Afghan, and other refugees attempted the … in Poland and Czechoslovakia after the war’s end. But this was only part of the global “refugee problem.” To this …
Clarence Thomas

Top Ten Origins: Controversial SCOTUS Nominees

… New York Times columnist David Brooks called the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett … Chief Justice John Jay’s resignation, President George Washington appointed Rutledge Chief Justice while the Senate … Senate. He became the first failed cabinet nomination when the Senate rejected President Jackson’s nomination of …
Black women marching with signs supporting integration

Race in the Classroom: Teaching Civil Rights

… Boyle , Stephanie Shaw , and Hasan Kwame Jeffries about the importance and difficulties of teaching race and civil … you know, and, and perceptions of sort of Black males that was just sort of missing, so but we get to do that in the … next question directly to Stephanie to start us off and so when a current event, like a police involved shooting takes …
Exiles carry a poster against the communist government of Cuba, in a demonstration in Miami

Cuba in Focus–Again

… most of us had almost forgotten — most, that is, except the million-plus Cuban-Americans. Not only do … in large cities. Their migration to this country began when Castro overthrew dictator Fulgencio Batista, who fled … with the Soviet Union. But the exiles' relationship with Washington began badly. Outstanding among the CIA's many …
Barry Goldwater in 1964.

The History of the “Right Wing Conspiracy”

… Clinton caused a sensation earlier in this turbulent year when she charged that a “right wing conspiracy” was behind the allegations of wrongdoing leveled against her husband. …

Madame President: A History of the Women Who Ran before Hillary

… Hillary Rodham Clinton secured enough delegates to become the Democratic nominee for president of the United States.  … through the line of succession. Representative Nancy Pelosi was second in line for the presidency from 2007-2011 (after the vice president) when she served as the first, and to date the only, female …
 Pinterest Hien Luong Bridge - Ben Hai River, Quang Tri, Vietnam

Vietnam Revisited: Forty Years after the Paris Peace Accord

… Forty years ago on January 27, 1973, the U.S. War in Viet Nam officially concluded with the signing of the Paris Peace Accord. It was then the longest war in U.S. history; although commonly … to promoting peace as the result of their journeys. When I learned that a group of American activists, all of …
The Sino-Soviet Split: Cold War in the Communist World, by Lorenz M Luthi Book Cover

Clashing Shades of Red

Review of The Sino-Soviet Split: Cold War in the Communist World, by Lorenz M Luthi (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008)
… Here's an essay question for you.  When future generations look back on our times, what do you think they'll remember as its major event?  1. the end of the Cold … way to kill time on a long car ride.  A few months back I was participating in a workshop where the featured guest …

With a Little Help from Our Friends?: The Costs of Coalition Warfare

… During the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, 14 Australian Hornet … involvement in multinational and interagency operations, was established under the direction of the Chairman of the … that coalition dynamics become all the more intricate. When countries such as the United States decide to fight …
A map showing Israel and Palestine

Palestine and Israel: A Case of Incomplete Decolonization

… Daily we search for explanations of the violence in the Middle East. Is it the vaunted clash of … struggles. Violence has accompanied decolonization whenever the goal of political independence is blocked. … Southern Rhodesia and South Africa no formal imperial ruler was available to negotiate the transfer of power. What the
Mount Holyoke College

Historical Truth and Personal Truths

… Like most American historians, I've been repeatedly asked these past few days the same question: "What do you think of … and other human shortcomings as other occupations. When scholars make mistakes, they are reported in the … otherwise sad incident. James M. Banner, Jr. a historian in Washington, D.C., was co-founder of the History News …
Cover of The Blue Tattoo: The Life of Olive Oatman by Margot Mifflin.

Taking it on the Chin

Review of The Blue Tattoo: The Life of Olive Oatman, by Margot Mifflin (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2009)
… Sometime in 1851, the Oatman family, Mormans from Illinois, were following … a part of the Colorado-Gila Rivers basin.  The journey was ill-fated from the start.  By the time the group reached … for four years before they returned her to the white world when the US Army ransomed her and threatened war.  During …