Essays

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

essays

Can the US make the world safe for democracy?

The US must adopt a grand strategy of democratic expansion. Only then can global security be established.

Kori Schake September 26, 2023

Photo collection of Charles de Gaulle in Hôtel des Invalides.

essays

De Gaulle’s world in motion

Part prophet, part statesman, Charles de Gaulle knew instinctively that political success and failure are inevitably interlinked, and that history would be the ultimate judge of bo..

Julian Jackson September 19, 2023

essays

Lucretius’ life-saving poem

De rerum natura, an epic work of intellectual and poetic bravura, was an huge influence on Virgil and Horace. Though we know little about him, Lucretius’ worldview is one in which ..

David Butterfield September 18, 2023

Puffin paperback editions of the Narnia tales by author CS Lewis

essays

Finding Turkey in Narnia

Re-reading CS Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia after a gap of thirty years reveals the author’s interest in the culture and history of the Turkic peoples.

Hannah Lucinda Smith September 11, 2023

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Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy revisited

In the titanic struggle between capitalism and socialism, there can only be one winner.

Niall Ferguson September 8, 2023

A portrait of Catherine the Great (1729-1796) by Alexey Antropov.

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The invention of Catherine the Great

Catherine II’s inoculation against smallpox was an extraordinary act of political self-creation.

Lucy Ward September 6, 2023

U.S. President John F. Kennedy, right, confers with his brother Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy at the White House in Washington, D.C., on October 1, 1962 during the buildup of military tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union that became Cuban missile crisis later that month.

essays

The terrible dilemmas of leadership in a thermonuclear world

Nuclear weapons are likely to be around for a long time to come – and the predicaments they create for world leaders are unlikely to be easily solved.

Francis J. Gavin September 1, 2023

Lee Kuan Yew takes breakfast on a state visit to London, 1968.

essays

The old man: the political genius who made Singapore

A hundred years on from his birth, Lee Kuan Yew’s city-state is more prosperous and stable than ever.

Christopher Hale August 29, 2023

essays

Imperial Miasma Theory

A genre of books has emerged that claims Britain’s imperial past can explain everything about Britain’s present travails. As its latest offering confirms, it ends up explaining not..

Samuel Rubinstein August 24, 2023