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Young Child dressed in a Uncle Sam costume

Coming to America to Contribute

Review of Ellis Island Nation: Immigration Policy and American Identity in the Twentieth Century, by Robert L. Fleegler Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013
… on this current debate, and reminds us that we’ve had these fights before. Ellis Island Nation: Immigration Policy … 1924, coming largely from eastern and southern Europe. This was the population that came through Ellis Island and other … established their young son’s American identity. When World War I ended, concern over the loyalty of new …
Reagan in 1982.

Exit Gen. Grant – Enter St. Ronald?

… Saving the Union by defeating the Confederate army and being … occupied the Oval Office since the first, Abraham Lincoln, was elected in 1860. Now, like the relatives nobody wants at … and “Uncle Warren” Harding, and “Rutherfraud” B. Hayes. But when was the last time you heard some Republican politician …
Print depicting the USS Olympia firing on the Spanish fleet during the Battle of Manila Bay on May 1, 1898.

Top Ten Origins: Puerto Rico and the United States

… Trump made a set of disparaging comments about Puerto Rico. They underscored just how little many Americans understand … fleet during the Battle of Manila Bay on May 1, 1898. When the dust kicked up by Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders … Partido Popular Democrático (PPD, Popular Democratic Party) was founded in 1938. Though it grew out of earlier movements …
Film poster for Pather Panchali (1955).

Top Ten Origins: From Bollywood to Indywood

… than four languages. This multilingualism is reflected rather spectacularly in Indian filmmaking. Although the world … viewers to leave their proverbial thinking brain at home when they go to the movies, as some Bollywood movies do. So … is location shooting: not a single scene in this movie was shot on a set or in a studio, with several sequences — …
The Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Rus not Russia

… Underlying the 2022 war in Ukraine is another conflict, this one over … Soviet Union’s dissolution in 1991. The rest of the world was uninterested in Putin’s article and his view of history. … to the modern Russian state. Medieval history is popular when it is turned into shows such as “Game of Thrones” and …
American Jewish Loss after the Holocaust, by Laura Levitt Book Cover

American Jewish Loss after the Holocaust

Review of American Jewish Loss after the Holocaust, by Laura Levitt (New York: New York University Press, 2007)
… Under cover of the Second World War, the Nazi state systematically … her father's mysterious birth mother, who died tragically when he was very young. Levitt had not known of her biological …
Sacking of Rome.

Bush’s Road Leads Back to Rome’s Empire

… For the Bush administration, the road of public policy leads to … suffered: more enemies and more attacks upon our own soil. When the president declared war on terrorism a year ago, he … end, the so-called barbarians destroyed Rome. That, too, was inevitable. Empires gain and keep power by spreading …

The Second Amendment Goes to Court

… this political maelstrom is more bitterly contested than the Second Amendment. Although it is hard to imagine this … of the last century, the meaning of the Second Amendment was not particularly controversial: the courts, legal … started to gain some traction among prominent liberals. When Harvard Law School's Lawrence Tribe , a renowned …
President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1967.

How to Intervene and Get Out

… U.S. planners in Iraq have gained little inspiration from the past, especially from the shopworn Vietnam analogy. That … of the Iraqi war say the “liberation” of Iraq has helped Washington kick the “Vietnam syndrome,” the fear of sending … the strategy of the United States militarily was admirable. When violence erupted in Santo Domingo, hundreds of U.S. …
Firefighters working on the San Diego wildfires in 2007.

San Diego’s Natural Disaster Wasn’t Entirely Natural

The catastrophe in San Diego is not entirely a natural one. … Southern California has burned, especially in October when hot, dry Santa Ana winds blow out of the eastern … in a small fire. But when the October winds are howling, as was the case this past week, even a downed rural power line …
Polin Museum

A Postcard from Warsaw, Poland: POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews

… POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews and the Monument to the Ghetto … of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. At the time, Pawlak was the Director of … tells the full one thousand year history of Jews in Poland, when Poland was home to the largest Jewish community in the
Pedro Albizu Campos, noted anti-imperialist, addressing a crowd in 1936

Reframing the American Empire

Review of How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States, by Daniel Immerwahr (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2019)
… “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Empire … Immerwahr establishes the foundation of his subject when he defines “territory” as America’s colonial unit, … and heroes of the American Revolution, such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, are shown as proponents and …
Rep Joe WIlson fan club with a poster that reads, "You lie!"

Brooks to Thurmond to Wilson

… While the rest of the nation expressed shock at Republican … South Carolinians doubtless recognized it for what it was: the latest in a long, distinguished history of … carry firearms: to prevent good Samaritans from intervening when your friend wants to beat someone up. Keitt was
Israeli troops during the battle for the Sinai

The Suez Crisis (1956)

… In July 1956, the international order was disrupted by the Suez Crisis, a … hostilities on a global scale. The crisis began on July 26, when Egyptian Premier Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the
Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy, by Eric D. Weitz Book Cover

Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy

Review of Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy, by Eric D. Weitz (Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2007)
The period in Germany from the end of World War I to the … is known as the Weimar era, after the Weimar Republic that was set up to govern the country after the revolution at theThe relationship between culture and politics is explicit when Weitz examines political posters. Weitz's inclusion of …
Chris Anderson asks: "Will you run again?" Gore replies, "Ohh, you aren't going to get me on this one!"

But Gore Did Help Invent the Internet

When Al Gore allegedly claimed he invented the Internet, comedians, political  pundits and Republicans … Like jet aircraft and interchangeable parts, the Internet was financed and promoted by the federal government. …
Iceberg, St. Lunaire.

A Postcard from Newfoundland

… In 1497, Venetian explorer John Cabot declared that the waters off the coast Newfoundland were so rich with cod … I know this because this story, in various forms, was relayed to me by everyone from a museum docent to a … and communal agriculture. A final blow came in July of 1992 when the Canadian government imposed a moratorium on the
Muslim depiction of Muhammad - 17th century Ottoman copy from the "Edinburgh codex".

Iraq, Too, Must Separate Church and State

… freedom can be a blessed event, but it’s painful. In 1831, when Gustave de Beaumont and I left France to visit the United States to examine first hand this interesting … working democracy. One of the chief reasons Saddam Hussein was able to maintain his political and military tyranny over …
Santorum speaking in Des Moines, Iowa in 2011

Rick Santorum Misunderstands Both Kennedy and Religious Pluralism

… religious freedom made him “throw up” would rank as one of the most unsettling remarks of the 2012 campaign. Contrary … foundations of our country.   In September 1960, when some Protestants suggested that Kennedy’s Catholicism …   Less than three weeks later, Kennedy argued that America was founded on two interdependent propositions: “a strong …
Illustration of Packing Room in Opium Factory at Patna, India

The World of Opium: From “Free” to Illicit Trade

Review of Opium’s Long Shadow: From Asian Revolt to Global Drug Control , by Steffen Rimner (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2018)
The Opium Wars (1839-42; 1856-60) are generally seen as … by the First World War (1914-18), the idea that a nation was justified to go to war to protect trade in drugs had been discredited. When the League of Nations came into being in 1920, nations …

A Fresh Start for Pakistan?

… of power for 13 years, 7 months, and 21 days, Nawaz Sharif was reelected prime minister of Pakistan on June 5, 2013. … for Pakistan’s future and marked several firsts. It was the first time in Pakistan’s turbulent political history … while others advocated a separate sovereign state. When it came time for independence, the British, Muslim …
poster supporting those lost in Pearl Harbor

Mobilizing for Common Purpose in the COVID Era

… American society mobilized for a sense of common purpose in the past? And why have we seemed to lose that sense of … struggle against the crumbling Spanish empire. There was ferocious resistance to what became the Spanish-American … in the war. Roosevelt could coin a phrase, as he did when he called on the nation to be the “ arsenal of …
Iraq by Raymond Bucko SJ on Flickr, cc by 2.0

Redeeming Honor — the South and Iraq

… remain dismissive of Middle Eastern culture, in which the powerful and ancient code of honor determines behavior … the enmity of our opponents throughout the Arab world. Yet Washington policy-makers seem oblivious to Arab motivations … to loosen all the loops and rings.” Honor was avenged when thousands of irate Muslims protested when a helicopter …