Essays Archive

essays

Why applied history matters

Forget the seduction of grand theories and presentist moral judgments. To learn the lessons of the past, the great foreign policy analysts of our age must rediscover the art of his..

Iskander Rehman November 20, 2021

Fortifications in the style of the French military engineer Sebastian de Vauban (1633-1701).

essays

On guard: the contemporary salience of military fortification

Fortresses, border walls and guard towers – today’s excessively guarded age is on a global scale far exceeding famous past efforts including that of Roman Emperor Hadrian and the G..

David J Betz November 19, 2021

Steatite bowl with mythological scenes from the Khafalji tribe, possibly of Elamite origin. The figure could be the goddess Inanna.

essays

Uruk and the origins of the sacred economy

Peering into the hearts and minds those living four thousand years ago is an impossible task. However, when it comes to the worship of the Mesopotamian goddess Inanna, it seems cle..

Daniel T Potts November 15, 2021

A 15th Century illustration from a Turkish manuscript depicting a surgical operation.

essays

From the Silk Road to the information superhighway

Globalisation may appear to be a cornerstone of modernity but humans have always both craved and feared connection, be it social, commercial, spiritual or scientific.

Peter Frankopan November 10, 2021

A variety of illustrations of birds native to Europe.

essays

Nature through the eyes of two Victorians: a birdwatcher and his big-game hunting brother

In light of the recent bird-watching revival, we should revisit the life of a champion birder, Edmund Selous, who watched humans as closely as birds, and noticed the bias we bring ..

Maria Golia November 4, 2021

Romulus and Remus, Rome's founding fathers depicted in the Duomo of Siena

essays

Roman geopolitics — an exercise in myth-making

Once established, Roman exceptionalism and empire needed to be justified and maintained. The practical application of mythology was one way in which this was achieved.

Richard Miles November 2, 2021

Czechoslovaks carry their national flag past a burning Soviet tank in Prague, 1968. The JIC failed to foresee Soviet retaliations to the mass protests

essays

The Joint Intelligence Committee: Reading the Russian mindset

During the Cold War, the British Joint Intelligence Committee was charged with forecasting the actions of states behind the Iron Curtain and the rest of the world. Its record was p..

Michael Goodman October 29, 2021

Graffiti of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in Saint Petersburg is painted over in April 2021. The inscription reads: "The hero of the new times". Credit: Olga Maltseva via Getty Images

essays

The dissident’s dilemma

Dissent is not about the individual; it is about challenging an unjust system. Modern dissidents in authoritarian societies need not echo the West's assumptions to be worthy of sup..

Elisabeth Braw October 29, 2021

A boy speaks on the phone underneath a 10-foot-high statue of former U.S President Bill Clinton on Bill Clinton Boulevard in 2019 in Pristina, Kosovo.

essays

The Balkan Question

The future of the Balkans is being decided by a clash between the liberal idealists and conservative realists. Whichever worldview prevails will determine the region's geopolitical..

Timothy Less October 19, 2021