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Administrative building in the Hague in 1939.

First World War of the Twenty-First Century?

… Now the question again surfaces: will the international community be able to avoid the slide toward war? It remains … seen whether the United States, the world’s “sole remaining superpower,” has the vision and determination to take action … Nikolas K. Gvosdev is a senior fellow for strategic studies at The Nixon Center in Washington and a writer for the …

About Origins

… "For insight into the complicated and complicating events ... , one needs perspective, not … the foundations of today’s events, and explore the often complicated nature of a particular current event. Our …
A 1963 photo of the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem.

In Bethlehem, Persisting Hope

… by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Israel completed its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, which abuts … and in territories on the West Bank of the Jordan River completed local elections under the supervision of democratically elected President Muhammad …
Senator Barack Obama

Memorandum to Sen. Obama: How to Run

… to get voters registered. He realized that if he were to become the city’s first African American elected mayor he … demonstrates the distance that the people of Chicago have come since Washington’s election. Like it or not, though, …
Portrait of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Burma’s Hope Imprisoned

… in southeast Asia, fully hopeful of joining the world community of free and independent nations. Burma is little … intervening years, Burma’s hope for freedom has been embodied in that brave woman. Thinking that more than a decade … in southeast Asia, Burma’s $1,200 per capita annual income is now a fifth of that of neighboring Thailand, below …
The Trojan Nuclear Plant in 1973.

The Atomic Age

… of 1989 in eastern and central Europe and the collapse of Communism in the Soviet Union in 1991 brought an end to the … know about, there are several other nations which hope to become nuclear powers in the near future. Add to this those … miniature atomic bombs hints that atomic bombs might well come in a small packages. Finally, even though we have …
A scene from the 1956 Hungarian Revolution

Remembering '56: The Hungarian Revolution

… ill-fated revolution that ended with the re-imposition of Communist rule and the flight of some 200,000 Hungarians to … been stationed in Hungary since 1944. Since his Hungarian Communist Party took power in 1948, Rákosi had presided over … troops supported by Hungarian security forces. Red Army soldiers and other emblems of Soviet repression were among the …
A photograph from the tumultuous German-Czech border in 1938 during World War II. The Sudetenland had long been a hotspot of contact between the two groups.

The Space In Between

Review of Cleansing the Czechoslovak Borderlands: Migration, Environment, and Health in the Former Sudetenland, by Eagle Glassheim (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2016)
… the Second World War. Glassheim notes that with the end of combat in Europe in 1945, the borderlands of Czechoslovakia … recounts the long history of German and Czechoslovakian competition to define the Sudetenland each in its own in … “always a foreign ulcer in our body.” That "ulcer" was remedied in Most by way of a forced “cleansing” or “liquidation” …
President Woodrow Wilson with his wife, Edith, in June 1920.

Making it into the White House

Review of Fit for the Presidency? Winners, Losers, What-Ifs, and Also-Rans, by Seymour Morris Jr. (Lincoln: Potomac Books, 2017)
… it remains unclear how exactly Morris chose his case studies. Merely examining five actual presidents (Washington, … of the presidency itself has changed, making his comparisons something of an apples and oranges exercise.  … detractors” might say. Again, historians who have studied these questions would find most of this facile and …
Clarence Thomas

Top Ten Origins: Controversial SCOTUS Nominees

… John Marshall’s seat, he was able at long last to overcome the strong objection of the Whigs during his third, and … full Senate ultimately confirmed him, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s initial rejection and strong opposition to his … for the historically conservative SCOTUS bench. Brandeis’s commitment to monitoring the socioeconomic impact of legal …
Theatrical poster for the American release of the 1952 film High Noon

War with Iraq: The Movie

… a villain and his henchmen threaten the safety of a western community, whose cowardly citizens cringe in the face of … Lebanon to save it from destructive fighting, American soldiers became the targets of warring parties; 241 Marines died in a terrorist bombing, and Reagan quickly pulled out …
The Brazilian flag and a soccer ball

Brazil’s Soccer Mania: An Example for the World

… ahead of any other national team. In view of the tremendous competition associated with the world’s favorite sport, … many Europeans and Latin Americans, such as socialism and communism, failed to draw a significant following in Brazil. … much of the population. Some critics of Brazilian society complain about the people’s passion for soccer and lack of …
The famously burly W.G. Grace was one of Britain's most famous cricket players who stood out from the crowd with both his imposing career and his imposing facial hair.

A Long History of Close Shaves

Review of Of Beards and Men: The Revealing History of Facial Hair, by Christopher Oldstone-Moore (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2016)
… ancient Mesopotamian history. The bearded warrior kings and completely shaven priestly classes established a clear … between the burly natural man and the submissively shaven supernatural.  This dichotomy between fighting facial hair … Ages evolved into the Renaissance , the history of beards becomes far more tangled.  Influential figures like Henry VIII …
With running mate Paul Ryan in Norfolk, Virginia, during the vice presidential selection announcement on August 11, 2012

Vice Presidential Nominees Must Be Plausible As President

… or on appealing to independents? Some of those factors may come into play, yet the recent history of vice-presidential … perform under the pressure of a presidential campaign could complicate their chances.   It’s not that citizens base … repeated questions regarding his qualifications before he compared his experience to that of John Kennedy in 1960. …
Power lines.

Blackouts: Symptoms of Our Dependence

… year of anticipating “Y2K” has served to remind us that the computers we call “personal” actually answer to specialized … American life has resulted in decreasing measures of both competence and control by ordinary citizens over the vital … Yorkers, at least, mixed their surprise with a reserve of composure and patience that many believed had long since …
An image showing slaves working on a plantation on the island of Antigua in the early 1800s.

After Abolition: Britain and the Slave Trade Since 1807

Review of After Abolition: Britain and the Slave Trade Since 1807, by Marika Sherwood (I.B. Tauris, 2007)
… slave trade. While the anniversary passed without too much comment in the United States, it was commemorated widely in … Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, is also a founding member of the Black & Asian Studies Association in the UK. After Abolition makes the claim …
Howard Dean speaking at a rally in 2003.

How to Rise from the Political Deathbed

… Howard Dean’s current bid to chair the Democratic National Committee is a test case of his political viability. It’s … consumption, but originally directed at a much smaller audience. Several politicians provide excellent examples of … by his spirited speech. Should the Democratic National Committee chairmen elect him as its new head Feb. 12, it …
A girl stands amid the graves of 70 children on the outskirts of Dadaab. The long desert journey to the relief camps has claimed many lives.

Famine Strikes Again. Will America Respond?

… by a massive drought. Millions were forced to flee their communities in search of food, but there was little to find. … for children.   Herbert Hoover, then U.S. secretary of commerce, responded.   Hoover quickly gained support from … bandits. The word desperation is an understatement when it comes to the plight of Somali refugees.   The first …