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US president Bill Clinton and Chinese leader Jiang Zemin holding a joint press conference at the White House, October 29, 1997

The Next Cold War?

… How do cold wars begin? The question is becoming more than academic as the Bush administration gropes … war with China. If so, Bush may be sympathetic. His “compassionate conservatism” reflects a strong commitment to the … cold war without carefully considering our choices. Ira Chernus is a professor of religious studies at the …
Government of National Unity in 2009. Left to right: Arthur Mutambara, Robert Mugabe, Morgan Tsvangirai, and Thabo Mbeki.

A Lesson for South Africa? Zimbabwe’s Path to Multi-Party Rule

… 1965 to official independence in 1980.   Political factors complicated matters. Since the early 1960s, the British … were short-lived because the Rhodesian government could pass legislation that outlawed the formation of … There is no historical moment that Zimbabweans cherish more than the GNU era, which brought political …
The flag of Ethiopia under the rule of the Derg, 1975-1987

Blind Aid: Lessons (Not Learned) from the Ethiopian Famine

… hundreds [of] thousands of people who will die.” Vasset’s comments encapsulated the international response to the … many humanitarian aid efforts continue to have the opposite of their intended effect. International Response At the … the Ethiopian Famine’s 25 th anniversary. While it pays lip service to the complicated situation that gave rise to the …
Fully lit Menorah

Chanukah Candles Shed Light on Mideast Conflict

… candles, I will think about how many ways the story of the past can be told, and how each telling casts a different … Surely they know that nothing brings people together like a common enemy. But in the United States, the "rally round the … like lighting the candles, will surely not be easy. Ira Chernus is a professor of religious studies at the …
Ukrainian soldier with blue and yellow ribbon overlay

Understanding the War in Ukraine: Insights from the Recent Past, 1991—Present

… back centuries. But my focus here will be on the recent past, that is, events since the breakup of the Soviet Union … This was a show in which Zelenskyy played a high school teacher who was unexpectedly elected President of Ukraine. And … a subset of the Russians, he's achieved the exact opposite. Because this has inspired a great deal of Ukrainian …
A photo of Al Gore I\in Manchester, New Hampshire, campaigning for President of the United States in 1999

The Case of the Disappearing Vice President

… to make bad choices when “stimulated by some irregular passion.” The best remedy would be “the interference of some … votes for president. But he looked like a backwoods ruffian compared with the venerable John Quincy Adams. So elite … must disappear, even if he is the vice president. Ira Chernus is a professor of religious studies at the …

WikiLeaks, and the Past and Present of American Foreign Relations

… Arabic, European, and Persian architectural styles, the complex embodied purposefully Egypt's place at the … who sits now in a U.S. military prison, awaiting trial for passing along 251,287 such cables—only 2,000 of which are … Little was known of the man beyond the fact that he had visited a website associated with radical Islam—but his name …
A Memorial to the "Forgotten War" of Korea with the insignias of the United States Uniformed Services ringed around it.

Forgotten War, Tragic Peace

… a battle fought here at home. The advocates of containing communism clearly defeated those led by General Douglas … years ago. It is not surprising that we remain stuck in the past. When the Korean armistice enshrined containment, it … solely with the two options of containment or conquest. Ira Chernus is a professor of religious studies at the …
Most U.S. casualties, like these in a C-17 military transport aircraft, return to Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware. (unknown date)

For Mom, Blueberry Pie — and Iraq?

… on “the near absence among the men I worked with… of any comprehension of what Nazism meant.” Commentator Dwight … be the crowning irony of his war and his presidency. Ira Chernus is a professor of religious studies at the … of Colorado at Boulder and a writer for History News Service. …
Gunpowder Plot conspirators in front of a bonfire celebrating Guy Fawkes Night.

Powder Treason, Bonfire Night, and the English Art of Reinventing the Past

… fireworks light the sky and effigies burn. The celebration commemorates an event from 1605, when authorities discovered … and all of Parliament. But Bonfire Night’s endurance stems less from the historical event itself than from the English … Monteagle shared an anonymous letter with authorities, who passed it on to the King. Shortly after midnight on November …
President Bush makes remarks in 2006 during a press conference in the Rose Garden about Iran's nuclear ambitions and discusses North Korea's nuclear test.

After 50 Years, a Great Military Debate Resumes

… whether the United States should send troops to Europe and commit itself to acting in concert with NATO allies.  … "great" only when genuine alternatives cannot be heard. Ira Chernus is a professor of religious studies at the … of Colorado at Boulder and a writer for History News Service. …
Jean-Marie Le Pen in 2006.

Far Right’s Electoral Success in France has Deep History

… most critical elections in decades. European and American commentators almost uniformly expressed shock at the … in France’s otherwise democratic-republican recent past. In the years after World War II, the French government … II, could unleash a sobering and dangerous electoral shift. Cheryl A. Koos, an assistant professor of history at …

Playing Politics: Olympic Controversies Past and Present

… other hand, speak piously of keeping politics out of sports competition. I am frequently asked, "Must politics be a part … vexed question of Tibet. Although the "Free Tibet" Internet site calls for full boycott, most other protestors seem … At one level, this marks a considerable retreat from past calls for boycotts. It may represent some recognition …
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)
… French scholar Jean Bauberot. Bauberot sees three essential components to a secular society: 1) the separation of … 195 national constitutions from around the world, researchers found that over 70 of them declare some variation of … as when they do it from religious conviction,” wrote Blaise Pascal. That remains as true today as when Pascal wrote it …
Seen in 1986 with Ford Island in center. The USS Arizona Memorial is the small white dot on the left side above Ford Island.

Pearl Harbor Myth Poses Dangers

… to fight on until the enemy is utterly vanquished has become our shared myth. But its appeal is as dangerous as it … though, we will see them as those mythic demons of the past. Then our policies will be responses to images of … on the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack. Ira Chernus is a professor of religious studies at the …
A vision for the future of the US Space Command for 2020: a space-based high-energy laser destroys a terrestrial target.

Rumsfeld May Spark Space Weapons Debate

… the 20th century, in times of peace, U.S. military researchers were busy inventing new weapons for the next war. The … and the virtual realm of computer technology. They have a passionate booster in Donald Rumsfeld. The Air Force’s Space … plan. They shout it out in glossy brochures and slick websites, hoping to get a bigger piece of the budgetary pie. …
Photograph of a mock-up of the Little Boy nuclear weapon dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, in August 1945. This was the first photograph of the Little Boy bomb casing to ever be released by the U.S. government (it was declassified in 1960).

Sowing Nuclear Seeds of Division

… inventing new “nukes” and new ways to deliver them. He felt compelled to build almost all of them, lest the Russians get … now, before any of its costs have to be paid. Ira Chernus is a professor of religious studies at the … of Colorado at Boulder and a writer for History News Service. …
In an address to a joint-session of the US Congress on September 20, 2001, US President George W. Bush demanded that the Taliban deliver Osama bin Laden and destroy bases of al-Qaeda.

Bush Should Consider the Fate of Wartime Presidents

… nation must choose between alternative ways of life, “communist or free,” Truman declared. Truman shook off fears … deeply. It is LBJ’s ghost that is waiting in the wings. Ira Chernus is a professor of religious studies at the … of Colorado at Boulder and a writer for History News Service. …
photo of FDR.

Picking Up Where FDR Left Off

… the economic crisis ripples through the world, some liberal commentators say that the only solution to it is a … are working at jobs that flood the world with goods and services, while they receive wages so low that they remain … "We all go up, or else we all go down, as one people." Ira Chernus is a professor of religious studies at the …
Sign that reads, "You are either affected or infected with HIV/AIDS."

HIV/AIDS: Past, Present and Future

… Together with you, our listeners will be exploring how the past informs the present this year.   Lauren Henry   That's … infectious diseases can be caused by bacteria, fungus, parasites and viruses and HIV, which stands for ”human … came to West Southern Africa to Angola as volunteers, teachers, development workers, but also as military, to support …
Early OSU football game

4th and Goal? The Past of the American University and the Future of the NCAA

… so we're curious. Is this a continuation or departure from past disagreements or challenges in college sports history? … time that and I've mostly said this, you know, over a pitcher of beer, but that the extraordinary thing about college … Wiggins. Song and band information can be found on our website. You can find our podcasts and more at our website
Lockheed u 2c aircraft Image from Public domain images website

Brandishing Nukes–A Self-Defeating Policy

… translated into action. In the 1950s, President Eisenhower committed the U.S. government to a first-strike nuclear … anything gained by a policy of “shock and awe.” Ira Chernus is a professor of religious studies at the … of Colorado at Boulder and a writer for History News Service. …
The new Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador, which opened in February 2023, was built to detain thousands suspected gang members.

Marching Back to the Past: Militarism in El Salvador

… average citizens with no connection to crime have become victims of this policy —especially poor and young … to serve a fourth consecutive term, urban workers, schoolteachers, students, and even economic elites and young military … According to some estimates, postwar criminal violence surpassed the carnage of war.  The state blamed the rise in …
 A Chinese laboratory technician conducting tests on SARS.

Corona in Context: Lessons from the SARS Pandemic (2003)

… As the world grapples with the ongoing pandemic of COVID-19 , it is important … discovered since the mid-1960s (four of which just cause a common cold in humans). A microscopic image of SARS-CoV It … and disproportionately at risk of contracting SARS and passing it on to those outside hospitals—special precautions …