Essays

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

Civil disorder arising from animosity between university undergraduates and towns people (town v gown) as described in a Charles Dickens novel.

essays

Equality – what is it good for?

Modern society is history's most equal. But progress has not been linear – or easy to calculate.

Ian Mortimer May 12, 2021

A 19th century print of Confucius (c551-479 BC) visiting court. 19th century.

essays

Confucius, competition and modern China’s misuse of meritocracy

Ancient Chinese ideas on merit are being manipulated to block checks on power and venerate authoritarian governance.

Eleanor Olcott May 11, 2021

8th-century frescoes of Saints Benedict and Renato, Italy

essays

A garden of schizophrenics

How did our ancestors think? The written word provides crucial evidence of how language has shaped human consciousness.

Mariano Sigman May 5, 2021

essays

The endless frontier

American state investment in science is returning. But the threats of today – pandemics, climate change, China – will require bold political leadership as well as money.

Sharon Weinberger April 30, 2021

A network server in New York City, 2014.

essays

Fighting in the shadows

The nature of war has changed forever. The West must adapt if it is to ward off threats to global stability.

Kimberly Kagan April 30, 2021

Military cadets in Yekaterinburg celebrating the 72nd Anniversary of the 'Great Patriotic War' against the Nazis, 2017.

essays

The triumph of the Motherland

In the cultural vacuum left by the collapse of communism, nostalgia for the Soviet Union defines and sustains the modern Russian nation.

Arkady Ostrovsky April 23, 2021

Students dressed in ancient clothes stand in front of the statue of Confucius

essays

The strong armed philosophy of the Chinese state isn’t new

The roots of modern China lie in ancient philosophical notions of the all-powerful leader and an obedient citizenry.

Roel Sterckx April 9, 2021

essays

Austria: nation, state or empire?

Studying the evolution of Austria in the 20th century offers deep insight into essential Western political categories.

Martina Winkelhofer-Thyri April 7, 2021

Asaro mud men from Goroka walk to the annual sing-sing cultural festival in Mount Hagen in 2004. Over 70 tribes put aside their ethnic tensions to come together once a year in the remote frontier town to celebrate the cultural diversity of Papua New Guinea.

essays

The dark side to loving a group

Acts of extreme self-sacrifice – such as suicide bombing – are not aberrations. They tell us something about our deepest instincts for group loyalty.

Harvey Whitehouse April 1, 2021