essays
The dream of a universal picture language
The idea that images can transcend words has a long intellectual history.
Keith Lowe
February 9, 2026
Essays
Long-form writing from leading scholars and commentators on history, statecraft, warfare, philosophy and culture.
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essays
The Nordic strategic tradition
The confrontation over Greenland has become a defining test for the Nordic countries, revealing deep interdependencies shaped by history, geography, and alliance politics.
Peter Haldén
February 6, 2026
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essays
Britain’s Suez catastrophe
The Suez Crisis, a severe geopolitical shock for all of Europe, marked the moment when British statesmen realised that they could no longer rely on the American alliance to simulat..
Ioannes Chountis de Fabbri
February 5, 2026
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essays
Why the samurai still matter
Nearly 700 years after their political dominance ended, Japan’s warrior elite continue to shape global culture.
Christopher Harding
February 4, 2026
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essays
The future of world order
The contemporary world order is poorly suited to today's dynamic, changing international system, a disparity that lies at the heart of our current sense of crisis.
Francis J. Gavin
February 4, 2026
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essays
Germany, land of experiments
Germany has long been a laboratory for political experiments, good and ill.
Daniel Johnson
February 3, 2026
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essays
China’s century of purges
Xi Jinping’s recent purges of senior PLA officers reveal a military stripped of independence, with obedience engineered over decades of Leninist structures.
Clark Aoqi Wu
January 30, 2026
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essays
The Revolution within Classics
Dan‑el Padilla Peralta, a prominent American classicist, has emerged as the face of radical critique in the academy – but his approach threatens to dismantle the field rather than ..
Jaspreet Singh Boparai
January 30, 2026
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essays
The fourth arm of defence
Britain’s interwar rearmament shows that military strength depends as much on industrial and economic strategy as on sheer spending.
Duncan Weldon
January 28, 2026