Essays

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

Olympic Summer Games - Closing Ceremony Athletes with flags from all nations make their way into the stadium as part of the 2012 London Olympic Summer Games at the Olympic Stadium, Olympic Park, London, England, UK on August 12th 2012

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A world of nations and states is here to stay

Despite globalisation, the nation state retains its privileged position in world politics.

Donald Sassoon September 17, 2020

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How ideology transformed the early modern individual

The French Revolution - with its 'left' and 'right' wings of the National Assembly - created political ideology. Nothing was ever quite the same again.

Dick Harrison September 10, 2020

An attendee wears a badge depicting Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's president, left, during the opening ceremony to mark the first day of prayers at the Hagia Sophia mosque, in the Sultanahmet district of Istanbul, Turkey, on Friday, July 24, 2020. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is holding the first Islamic prayer at the iconic Hagia Sophia in nearly a century, a calculated move to boost the embattled Turkish presidents popularity at home and in the Muslim world.

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New Turkey’s old politics

As a result of President Erdogan's embrace of two interlinked geopolitical concepts, 'Strategic Depth' and 'Blue Homeland', Turkey faces international isolation.

Tim Marshall September 8, 2020

A Japanese painting on silk in a traditional style of a Samurai warrior riding a horse

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Inventing the Samurai

The creation of samurai identity involved all classes of Japanese society, but the warriors were as much objects of mockery as reverence.

Michael Wert September 4, 2020

Cave of Plato, Jan Saenredam, Cornelis Cornelisz. van Haarlem, 1604.

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Leadership in crisis – why the West needs Plato more than ever

The Victorians saw Plato's Republic as an indispensable guide to reform of the public sphere - we should follow their lead.

Adrian Wooldridge September 1, 2020

Thought-Forms -Fig. 30. At a Shipwreck. Annie Besant and C. W. Leadbeater - Wiki Creative Commons

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After Hilma af Klint: the influence of Theosophy on contemporary art

Over a century after its inception, the central tenets of Theosophy continue to resurface in art created today.

Marco Pasi August 28, 2020

TOPSHOT - A member of the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) raises the victory gesture

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Can warfare ever be considered modern?

Even with all its data and technology, contemporary conflict fits uneasily with our definitions of modernity.

Rob Johnson August 27, 2020

British Prime Minister Tony Blair greets an ethnic Albanian by holding up his hand in central Pristina, Yugoslavia during a one-day visit Saturday July 31, 1999. It was Blair's first visit to Kosovo since NATO's bombing campaign against Yugoslavia. (Photo by David Brauchli)

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The restless search for fun wars

The West, more specifically the United States, with its major allies alongside it, has been chasing the 'fun wars' for 40 years and serially coming up empty.

David J Betz August 26, 2020

Stone relief from the palace of Ashurbanipal

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The ancient roots of the modern holy war

The crusades, jihad, and wars in defence of intangible ideals all have their origins in a short-lived conflict in the 6th century BC.

Tom Holland August 25, 2020