Essays

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

Kourou, French Guiana. Credit: Alpha Stock
essays

Europe is an American power — it just doesn’t know it

Five centuries of shared history reveal the Americas as an extension of Europe. Yet today's European leaders cannot formulate a strategy to advance their own interests there.

Joshua Treviño May 27, 2026
An early 20th century American cartoon on the Monroe Doctrine.
essays

The return of the Western Question

The last decade, marked by a growing transatlantic rift and Britain's exit from the European Union, has upended longstanding political settlements in both Western Europe and the We..

Brendan Simms May 20, 2026
The statue of Raja Rammohan Roy in front of Bristol Cathedral.
essays

The death of Bengali liberalism

Bengal's 200-year-old tradition of cosmopolitan liberalism – shaped by British imperialism – is coming to an end, giving way to a reactionary political imagination.

Sumantra Maitra May 19, 2026
The Laskett Gardens, Herefordshire, UK
essays

Roy Strong, the man for all seasons

The Laskett in Herefordshire is a testament to Strong’s almost Proustian devotion to memory, a highly personalised landscape full of ideas and follies that evoke sentiments or plac..

Clive Aslet May 15, 2026
The Voynich Manuscript.
essays

The quixotic quest for an a priori language

Dreamers and philosophers have long been seduced by the idea of a universal symbolic system capable of expressing all human thought.

Jared Marcel Pollen May 14, 2026
A poster advertising the Canadian Pacific Railway
essays

Canada’s story and the art of middle-power politics

At the heart of John A. Macdonald’s vision for Canada was the realisation that national power depended on productive capacity, a lesson European leaders would do well to remember.

David Cowan May 13, 2026
Ukrainian servicemen of the aerial reconnaissance unit in Zaporizhzhia, southeastern Ukraine. Credit: Ukrinform
essays

Ukraine is mastering 21st-century warfare

With Ukraine adapting faster than its invader, several early indicators suggest that the war's trajectory is shifting in Kyiv's favour.

Mick Ryan May 6, 2026
The Burning of the House of Lords and Commons, by JMW Turner.
essays

Elegy for the hereditary peers

Expelling hereditary peers comes at a cost to Britain's constitutional and cultural fabric.

Gerald Warner May 1, 2026
President Donald Trump inside the hangar bay of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington in Yokosuka, Japan on 28 October 2025.
essays

From America First to America Alone

Trump's erratic use of tariffs may ultimately undermine the alliances that have allowed the United States to project its power around the globe.

Samuel Gregg May 1, 2026

Download The Engelsberg
Ideas app

The world in your pocket. The app brings together – in one place – our essays, reviews, notebooks, and podcasts.

Download here