Essays Archive

Collage of portraits of Theodore Roosevelt.

essays

Theodore Roosevelt’s lessons in global power

Theodore Roosevelt's rationale for his transformative and hard-nosed approach to American foreign policy is a warning from history to both isolationist opinion in the United States..

Charlie Laderman June 18, 2025

Sean Connery as James Bond in Dr No (1962).

essays

The anatomy of the spy novel

From the gung-ho glamour of Ian Fleming’s James Bond to the decline and disorder of Mick Herron’s Slow Horses, postwar British spy novels have captured the shifting myths and legen..

D. J. Taylor June 11, 2025

A painting of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the Old Friday Mosque in Isfahan, Iran.

essays

The price of Iran’s nuclear prestige

Iran's pursuit of prestige through nuclear capabilities has raised geopolitical tensions without delivering economic relief. Many now question the wisdom of the Islamic Republic’s ..

Ali Ansari June 10, 2025

essays

Bruce Springsteen’s Spanish love affair

The Boss may have been born in the USA, but it’s Spain that worships Springsteen as rock royalty.

Duncan Wheeler June 5, 2025

Fiona Hill, senior fellow at The Brookings Institution, before the Senate Armed Services Committee, February 15, 2023.

essays

In conversation with Fiona Hill on Donald Trump’s nuclear nightmares

Fiona Hill, distinguished adviser to several US presidents on foreign affairs, spoke to EI’s Jack Dickens about Donald Trump’s fear of nuclear Armageddon, how this fear has shaped ..

Engelsberg Ideas June 3, 2025

Second World War-era British propaganda.

essays

Why liberal democracies win total wars

In both total wars of the 20th century, liberal, capitalist economies showed themselves to be far more adaptable to its demands than their authoritarian enemies.

Duncan Weldon May 29, 2025