Essays

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

An overview of Pavlograd coal processing plant in Donbas. Credit: VINCENT MUNDY / Alamy Stock Photo.
essays

Putin bets the Russia house on the Donbas rustbelt

By 1991, the Donbas, the former core of the Russian Empire’s coal, iron and metallurgical industries, was in large part Europe’s biggest rust-belt. For Russia, the benefits of anne..

Dominic Lieven July 7, 2022
Terror attack
essays

Keeping it simple: how technology shapes the terror threat

Evolving technology consistently introduces new possibilities for both the attacker and defender. The more inventive terrorists became, the more defensive measures needed to be put..

Suzanne Raine July 5, 2022
Students graduating from Birmingham University, England. Credit: Malcolm McDougall Photography / Alamy Stock Photo.
essays

What is mistake theory and can it save the humanities?

While critical theory is not without its uses, it is time that we take a more constructive approach to social issues. 'Mistake theory' can offer a useful lens.

Claire Lehman June 29, 2022
ukraine is everywhere
essays

‘Everything is Ukraine’ — Ukraine’s long search for a homeland

Ukraine's complex history does not neatly fit into modern ideas of nationhood. But Putin's twisted attempts to use history to justify his invasion have generated a remarkable spiri..

Catherine Merridale June 24, 2022
Rays of sunshine streaming through the leaded-light windows in an empty church. Credit: Jim Holden / Alamy Stock Photo.
essays

The Future of Europe: secular but not secularist, diverse but not divided

Over the past century, religion throughout Europe has been rapidly on the wane. The recent growth of Europe's Muslim population, however, has slowed this trend.

David Voas June 21, 2022
congress of vienna
essays

Alternative international orders: a modern Holy Alliance for the twenty-first century

The Holy Alliance, a significant aspect of this post-1815 world, might offer a useful model to shape a legitimate and workable international order of the future.

Andrew Ehrhardt June 17, 2022
DNA Sequence chromatograms produced by automated sequencing machines. Credit: Mark Harmel / Alamy Stock Photo.
essays

The century of the gene

When the Human Genome Initiative published its first findings in 2002, the world was shocked. Genetic biologists, however, had long ago come to realise that DNA sequences are only ..

Evelyn Fox Keller June 13, 2022
Factory chimneys pouring out polluted smoke in Sheffield
essays

Did civilisation add to the quality of human life?

Civilisation and development has improved the quality of human life in human societies, but not in a linear way.

Ruut Veenhoven June 12, 2022
Bikini Atoll nuclear
essays

The nuclear dilemma: deterrence works, up to a point

Nuclear arsenals constrain us, within limits. They enable dictators, within limits. Those limits matter, whether they are the limits of what we would do to dictators if we could, o..

Alex Wellerstein June 7, 2022

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