Essays Archive

American tank crews keeping warm during the Ardennes-Alsace Campaign, Battle of the Bulge, 1945.

essays

A little history of winter warfare

Throughout human history, commanders and warriors have adapted to waging war in the depths of winter, providing strategic lessons and cautionary tales for the Russo-Ukrainian confl..

Peter Caddick-Adams December 29, 2025

Supporters of impeached former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol at a rally in Seoul. Credit: Associated Press

essays

The long tail of Seoul’s political crisis

A year on from the martial law disaster, South Korean democracy has recovered from its existential moment. Yet it would be premature to assume the country is back on a stable democ..

John Nilsson-Wright December 23, 2025

Zohran Mamdani addresses supporters at an election rally in November 2025 prior to his election as Mayor of New York City.

essays

The battle for New York

Zohran Mamdani's election as mayor of New York City is part of a decades-long clash between competing visions of America's greatest metropolis, and a historic contest between entre..

John Ketcham December 22, 2025

essays

Essaying Montaigne

In Montaigne’s French, essays are not yet 'essays' but assays – trials, tests, experiments. Remove belief, whether in philosophy or religion, and what remains?

David Wootton December 19, 2025

Hog Island Shipyard, Pennsylvania, 1918. Credit: akg-images

essays

Maritime allies are America’s superpower

The United States must collaborate successfully with its allies if it is to compete with China in the global shipping industry.

Marc Levinson December 17, 2025

The British War Office's 1940 'Dig for Victory' poster.

essays

Digging for victory

Dig for Victory, a wartime propaganda operation that tapped into the national psyche, encouraged Britons to grow produce at home. With food security worse than it was in the 1930s,..

Clive Aslet December 16, 2025

essays

The power of the citizen-soldier

Britain has a long history of reservists defending the country in times of crisis. Reviving this tradition is among the most effective ways to secure Europe from Russian aggression..

Gary Sheffield December 12, 2025