So-called civilisational states, including Russia, China and India, invoke fake histories to justify and buttress their contemporary political settlements. But those who cannot let go of the past are always at risk of finding themselves imprisoned by it.
For the United States, geopolitics has always been about national identity, even in an era of globalisation. Perhaps it always will be.
In times of global uncertainty and upheaval, many people look back to an imaginary golden age of simplicity and stability, or seek to blame a past individual or policy for current ills. Danger lies in both these coping strategies. We need to make intelligent use of history.
Flags have become synonymous with nationhood, character, spirit, and power. In an age of renewed nationalism, their power should not be underestimated.
In Japanese culture, nature is more than simply the natural world: it is an aesthetic, ethical, and sacred concept.
Arcadianism is so deep-rooted in the British national psyche. Everyone wants their own slice of Arcadia. But if everyone gets one, how much will be left?
Modern America has followed a generic pattern set by triumphant dynasties of the past, from the Ming Dynasty to Achaemenid Persia. History shows hubris creates the conditions for disaster.
The biggest division in modern society is between the meritocracy and the people, the cognitive elite and the masses, the exam-passers and the exam-flunkers.
Far from being a throw-away genre trope, the unresolved puzzle of extra-terrestrial visitors gives us unique insights into the nature of thought, communication and memory.
In war, we are, like the Duke of Wellington, still trying to guess what is on the other side of the hill, we just have more tools to help us do so.
The famed French chronicler of poverty and war saw hope in the prospect of the European ideal – over a century before the creation of the EU.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, some of its military conscripts from former republics ended up in NATO countries. Their personal stories are not only compelling accounts of recent history – they also offer valuable insights into the former superpower’s ‘five-million man’ martial might and even today’s Russian military.
The Islamic relationship between religion and state has a deep history – but the modern politics of nationalism has re-cast Islam in a new political mould
The Internet is now home to modern culture. But like paper, it is at risk of decay unless we archive and store it properly.
Military force will not be enough to fix the Gulf of Guinea’s piracy problem. The roots of the crime lie on-shore, deep in the politics of oil and statehood.
The idea of a united European polity has a contested history dating back three centuries.
President Moïse’s assassination is a new spin on a familiar story for Haiti. And yet, despite the fact that the country’s politics has been plagued by destabilising political assassinations, the liberating promise of its revolutionary past lives on.
The story of First Millennium Europe is one of remarkable economic change and demographic upheaval; a precocious analogue to the modern era of globalisation.
We need to focus on how we warn about threats and hazards. Data and forecasting can only get us so far – the critical factors are human instinct and courage.
Political and economic concerns were as critical as environmental and geographic factors in forging the unity of the Mongol Empire.
A new struggle for resources, trade and military might has polarised the Arctic states. As the region thaws, strategic competition is heating up.
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