Essays Archive

Detail of the fresco by Ambrogio Lorenzetti of 'Good Government' in the Sala della Pace in the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena.

essays

In defence of the city-state

The early modern Italian republics are often portrayed as models of bad government. But the fusion of civic humanism and Christianity they championed endures to this day.

Maurizio Viroli March 10, 2021

In 1877 the nationally revered hero of the Meiji Restoration, Saigo Takamori, rebelled against the government that he had helped to establish. Here his samurai army was eventually defeated by the government's modern conscript army

essays

Rethinking the Meiji Restoration

The Japanese once celebrated the Meiji period as an optimistic and outward-looking era. But relative decline has led Japan's youth to embrace 'hikikomori', a philosophy of national..

Naoki Sakai March 5, 2021

Saudi Aramco's Shayba oilfields in the desert dunes of Saudi Arabia. Credit: Simon Dawson / Bloomberg via Getty Images.

essays

The geopolitical fight to come over green energy

The struggle for sustainable energy will soon put China, the US and Europe on a geopolitical collision course. But moving away from fossil fuels is a Herculean task, and a greener ..

Helen Thompson March 5, 2021

John Perry Barlow (centre, with beard) speaks with Bill Gates at the Annual PC Forum, 1991.

essays

John Perry Barlow and the struggle for the independence of cyberspace

In 1996 John Perry Barlow penned his 'Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace'. The war between politicians and tech-idealists had just begun.

Andrew Keen February 26, 2021

Ex-Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev with Polish President Lech Walesa

essays

Russia and the West – the path not taken

The collapse of the Soviet Union drew back the Iron Curtain, integrating Eastern Europe in the Western order. Although Russia remained out in the cold, this was not inevitable. For..

Sergey Radchenko February 23, 2021

Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882) in his signature red shirt, gazing towards his beloved Italy from a cliff edge on the island of Caprera off the coast of Sicily. Illustration c1920. Credit: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

essays

Finding Garibaldi

Garibaldi's retreat to his home in Caprera spawned a liberal-nationalist ideal of statesmanship that would live long in the European imagination.

Lucy Riall February 18, 2021

essays

Rewiring the world

Throughout history, technological change has operated within established geopolitical patterns. Today’s tech revolution is tipped to transcend those boundaries and transform intern..

Brendan Simms & Constance Simms February 17, 2021