Methodology is not a sexy topic of discussion. But it should be. Nothing is more important to an accurate retelling of diplomatic history than good methods. What we believe happened, how it happened, and why it happened, all come from good methods. Read More Here
The Communist Party of China’s (CPC) Central Committee sixth plenary session scheduled for November 8-11 is expected to make a big bang “third historical resolution” that seeks to strengthen President Xi Jinping’s leadership and legacy. Read More Here
Before the Radcliffe Line, there was the Durand Line. The British, having seized territory from Afghanistan during the Second Anglo-Afghan War in 1878-80 and annexed it to British India, dispatched Mortimer Durand to formalize those gains with a treaty in 1893. Read More Here
When the first Englishman visited Leh, the capital of Ladakh in north-west India, in the early 19th century, he quickly recognized the region’s strategic significance. Not only was it an important conduit for trade with Central Asia, but its position on the frontier of India meant it could be used as “a strong outwork against an […]
It’s prudent to set a two-power standard—much as Britain did in its imperial heyday—and measure the U.S. against Sino-Russian maritime might. If U.S. sea forces aren’t up to that standard, America and its allies are standing into danger. Read More Here
Modern lore has it that Mao Zedong’s eldest son, who was killed in a United Nations airstrike during the Korean War, had given away his position by firing up a stove to make egg fried rice. That story didn’t sit right with the Chinese Academy of History, launched two years ago by Chinese leader Xi […]
The former Prussian royal family’s effort to recover riches lost after the Second World War hinges on one question: did their ancestors’ support help Hitler and the Nazis take power? Read Here | The New Statesman
Chinese officials are increasingly invoking examples from American history to justify their efforts to dominate the South China Sea and establish a broader sphere of influence throughout the Indo-Pacific theater. Beijing, they contend, is merely following America’s model as it rose to power in the nineteenth century. Read Here | The National Interest
How past events are recollected and represented is known as “historical memory.” It is the glue that helps hold civilisations and nation-states together. Historical memory is particularly powerful in China. Not only does it hold the nation together, but it provides the key to understanding Chinese nationalism and China’s intentions. Read Here | The Wilson […]
There’s a term for what’s been missing: “clioepidemiology.” Named after Clio, the muse of history, it describes the practice of studying information from past epidemics for advice about the present. Why are we so bad at doing this in practice? Isn’t everyone who’s ever lived through an ugly epidemic an armchair clioepidemiologist, almost by default? […]
looking beyond borders 