Essays

Long-form writing from leading scholars and commentators on history, statecraft, warfare, philosophy and culture.

Lord Halifax, British Ambassador to the United States, at the National Airport in Washington.

The aristocratic ambassadors who won America over

Lord Lothian, followed by Lord Halifax, led the British Embassy in Washington during the early years of the Second World War. Securing US support for Britain, they set the standard..

Tim Bouverie February 10, 2026

Marco Ricci and Sebastiano Ricci's 'Landscape with Classical Ruins and Figures'.

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Edward Gibbon’s empire

Edward Gibbon’s 'The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' was published 250 years ago. Its arguments remain as pertinent as ever.

Sumantra Maitra February 10, 2026

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The dream of a universal picture language

The idea that images can transcend words has a long intellectual history.

Keith Lowe February 9, 2026

Soldiers from the Danish army taking part in live-fire training after their arrival in Greenland, on Sunday, 18 January 2026.

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The Nordic strategic tradition

The confrontation over Greenland has become a defining test for the Nordic countries, revealing deep interdependencies shaped by history, geography, and alliance politics.

Peter Haldén February 6, 2026

A Soviet Cartoon from 1956 showing a defeated British lion and Gallic cockerel on the banks of the River Nile.

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Britain’s Suez catastrophe

The Suez Crisis, a severe geopolitical shock for all of Europe, marked the moment when British statesmen realised that they could no longer rely on the American alliance to simulat..

Ioannes Chountis de Fabbri February 5, 2026

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Why the samurai still matter

Nearly 700 years after their political dominance ended, Japan’s warrior elite continue to shape global culture.

Christopher Harding February 4, 2026

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The future of world order

The contemporary world order is poorly suited to today's dynamic, changing international system, a disparity that lies at the heart of our current sense of crisis.

Francis J. Gavin February 4, 2026

1925 poster advertising the Nuremberg transport museum.

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Germany, land of experiments

Germany has long been a laboratory for political experiments, good and ill.

Daniel Johnson February 3, 2026

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China’s century of purges

Xi Jinping’s recent purges of senior PLA officers reveal a military stripped of independence, with obedience engineered over decades of Leninist structures.

Clark Aoqi Wu January 30, 2026