Essays

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

BEIJING, CHINA - JUNE 28: Dancers perform during a gala show to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in the Great Hall of the People on June 28, 2011 in Beijing, China. This year's celebrations will mark the 90th anniversary of the founding of the CPC.

China: The great uncoupling

Beijing wants to foster a world where Chinese standards replace those of the post-1945 US-led system.

Jonathan Fenby July 3, 2020

Thomas Cole / Public Domain

Survival lessons from Ancient Rome

The Romans have so much to teach us about what it means to live in a society in crisis.

Gillian Clark July 1, 2020

Map of the world.

2020: Putting our pandemic in perspective

No event in human history has affected the entire world so quickly and comprehensively.

Lincoln Paine June 30, 2020

A deserted inner-city highway in Wuhan, China

This crisis has the capacity to be apocalyptic

Covid-19 heralds the end of our interconnected world. We'll need wise leaders to navigate what comes next.

Peter Frankopan June 29, 2020

Thomas Edward (of Arabia) Lawrence riding a camel

Lawrence of Arabia on war: How the past haunts the present

The Lawrence legend continues to win new devotees while his pragmatic contribution to warfare is neglected.

Rob Johnson June 29, 2020

Engraving of the Sack of Rome by the Visigoths led by Alaric I in 410, during the reign of Emperor Honorius.

Decline in three dimensions

Late Antiquity was not just a story of Decline and Fall - Roman elites thrived in a changing world.

Neil McLynn June 27, 2020

Hippocrates refuses presents from the envoys of King Artaxerxes, who tried to appeal to him to treat his soldiers in an epidemic.

Ancient lessons for modern crisis

The Covid-19 pandemic signals a long period of global instability.

Lawrence Freedman June 26, 2020

Lamentation for the Dead Christ. Fresco by the artist Giotto (1267-1337).

Crisis and the creation of great art

Social upheaval has often been a catalyst for artistic change - the Renaissance was no exception.

Andrew Graham-Dixon June 25, 2020

St. Louis Red Cross Motor Corps on duty during the American Influenza epidemic, 1918. Credit: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Counting the cost of the 1918-19 pandemic

The influenza pandemic behaved much like the conflict itself - picking out the young and fit before their time.

Hew Strachan June 24, 2020

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