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A protest for nuclear disarmament

We Cannot Afford to Neglect Nuclear Disarmament

… for new nuclear weapons should serve as a wake-up call for the United States. The last thing Americans want to see are … with Russia. During the Cold War, nuclear disarmament was a long-term goal of U.S. foreign policy. President … has the bomb, and Iran may be joining the nuclear club. When one thinks of the horrific scenarios that could emerge …
Cover of All the Missing Souls: A Personal History of the War Crimes Tribunals by David SchefferDavid S

Bringing Evil to Justice

Review of All the Missing Souls: A Personal History of the War Crimes Tribunals, by David Scheffer (NJ: Princeton University Press, 2012)
… After the sledgehammers began breaking down the Berlin Wall on the … At the center of American efforts in these proceedings was international lawyer David Scheffer, now a Professor of … terms "evil." The reader glimpses the forces unleashed when the rule of law disappears or sovereign power permits …
The almshouse at Woburn, Bedfordshire, England

Top Ten Origins: Housing the Poor

… Few things are more expensive than housing. The purchase of a home is the single greatest expense in … abandoned them almost immediately? And what has happened when the poor have taken matters into their own hands? 1. … England The first home for the poor in England was established around 936 CE by King Athelstan. Its …
Image of T2 Atomic Demolition Munition from the 1950s.

The Test-Ban Treaty and the Cold War’s Lessons

When U.S. senators voted to reject the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, they took a giant step … makers recognized that slowing down the nuclear arms race was essential to preserving both international security and …
The Thirty Years War (1618-1648) was one of the bloodiest in history: 8 million people lost their lives in Europe's deadliest religious conflict.

Secularism, Past and Future

Review of Secularism: Politics, Religion, and Freedom, by Andrew Copson (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017)
… A few years ago Thomas Jefferson received a demotion from the Texas State Board of Education. The conservative … school curriculum. The reason for this posthumous pink-slip was not that Jefferson was a slave-holder or even that he … the term secularism itself dates only to the 19th century, when it was coined by British reformer George Jacob …
Dynamiters' train in Indianapolis.

Of Bill Gates, Casey Jones, and the Search for Heroes

… One hundred years ago, early in the morning on April 30, 1900, an American hero emerged from … by Engineer's Loyalty to Duty." In fact, the tragedy was of the engineer's making, caused by his own arrogant … trains on time. The New Orleans Special was 95 minutes late when it left Memphis that fateful day, but if anyone could …
Senator Fred Thompson at the Chattanooga Summit in 1996.

Back to the Future of Fund-Raising Scandals

… Bill Clinton is not the first president to deal with a fund-raising scandal in … golden ages than about the history of political money. He was no more eager to end the money chase than Clinton is … he had something to testify about. Roosevelt’s scandal hit when a New York State legislative committee looking into the
Immigrant Rights Protest by Betty Tsang, Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

The Federal War on Immigrants Is a War on All Workers

… Bush's immigration reform legislation appears to be dead in the U.S. Congress, but the ground war against undocumented … in worksite raids comes, not coincidentally, at a moment when, despite a growing economy, low-wage workers are … to a jail-like detention center in the neighboring state of Washington. This is not only an immigration issue. It's also …

Public Debt, Private Wealth: A History of Central Banks

… At the end of 2020, the U.S. government’s debt roughly equaled … virus (late September 2019) an additional $3 trillion was pumped into “unnamed trading houses on Wall Street” by … states, just like kingdoms and empires, flounder and fail when they have chronic and enormous obligations. Debt is a …
1911 portrait of King George V, ruler of the British Empire.

The Risks of Unilateralism

When a nation — the United States — begins to regard itself as "the sole … in the Napoleonic Wars early in the 19th century, Britain was the dominant force in the world. So vast was its reach … until the Boer War in South Africa between 1899 and 1902 when the descendants of Dutch settlers, the Afrikaners, …
The Great Wall of China: Perhaps the greatest collection of walls in human history.

Top Ten Origins: History's Great Walls, Good Neighbors or Bad Policy?

… In the midst of a migration crisis in Europe and strident talk … deep ditch. It is hypothesized that the Wall of Jericho was constructed not only for defensive purposes, but also to … Athens and her ports for farming and transportation. When Sparta would ravage Attica and attempt to draw them …

1989 Twenty Years On: The End of Communism and the Fate of Eastern Europe

… where the word "opposition," unheard of under communism, was expressed publicly; the dismantling of the barbed-wire … economic situation continued to deteriorate, strikes in the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk led to the establishment of … revolution mobilized the population against the regime. When reformers within the Communist Party changed the
The London meeting to discuss NATO military intervention in Libya, March 29, 2011.

Secretary Clinton — Leader or Figurehead?

… accompanied Hillary Clinton’s recent trip to Pakistan. This was a wake-up call in more ways than one. The moment had come for Clinton to act more boldly as the … or the hits. But there may come a day in the near future when her profile sinks too low to recover.   If so, she …
The National Crest of Transnistria.

Transnistria: The History Behind the Russian-backed Region

… Nestled between the Dniester River to the west and the Ukrainian border to … near the village of Maiak on the morning of April 26, when five to ten individuals planted 12 anti-tank mines at a … rule, Transnistria—its population still largely Ukrainian—was united with Bessarabia to form the Moldovan Soviet …
An MP looking north from South Korea in the Demilitarized Zone, 2008.

The War That Never Ended: The Legacy of the Korean War

… and neither side gained much territory. A peace treaty was never signed; the Korean War has never officially ended. … of the Japanese Empire, but this period was indeed when Kim gained his nationalistic credentials as a Korean … orthodoxy. The regime mixed elements of ethnic chauvinism, Leninist centralism, Third Worldism, and revolutionary …
view looking up into treetops

Climate Change: Insights from History

… John Brooke, Jennifer Eaglin and Samuel White about the historical context of climate change. ( Image Source ) … … all's questions. Many of you already submitted questions when you registered, others, we welcome that you all … culture and nature. And so the question of climate, what was the nature of climate? How did it change was of interest …
Cover of Robert Clifton Weaver and the American City The Life and Times of an Urban Reformer by Wendell E. Pritchett.

Invisible Man

Review of Robert Clifton Weaver and the American City: The Life and Times of an Urban Reformer , by Wendell E. Pritchett (University of Chicago Press, 2008)
… of hard-hitting campaigning and nationwide discussions on the need for change, the United States elected an African … in economics from Harvard University (p. 30).  Although he was highly qualified for a number of positions, his color … and the transformation of the American city at a moment when civil rights was viewed largely as a Southern issue.  …
A map of northern Ireland

Ending the War in Northern Ireland

… Hurrah! The war in Northern Ireland is over. There will be … and Protestants to end. The very weekend agreement was reached by the Northern Ireland political parties theThe pattern has continued to the present day. In 1969, when Cathal Goulding, the chief of staff of the IRA, and his …

The Politics of International Adoption

… will rely on a fair amount of data to discuss what I see as the significance of international adoption. However, I want … to constitute or re-constitute families, to provide homes when birth parents could not or would not do so, to serve as … back to the early years of white settlement, the practice was long governed informally and on an ad hoc basis. …
The colorful buildings of Tirana, viewed from the steps of the National Museum.

A Postcard from Tirana: Overcoming the Past

… call the city home. What is now a bustling metropolis was until quite recently a grim Soviet-style city. In fact, … it was not officially established as a town until 1614, when a mosque, bazaar, and Turkish baths were built at what … to make way for government buildings, and statues of Lenin and Hoxha himself were erected. Aerial image of …
The Norwegians Land in Iceland 872 by Oscar Wergeland (1877).

Why We Love the Vikings

There’s no denying that the Vikings and Norse mythology are … were bound by strict legal and societal expectations that, when broken, could have dire consequences, from fines to … requires further examination. Viking Age Scandinavia was an oral society, and writing was limited to runic …