News Abroad

Russia's Courageous War Resisters

by Lawrence Wittner

While most Russians have chosen silence in the wake of Putin's harsh anti-dissent measures, and many military-aged men have opted to leave the country, a core of protesters have braved violence and imprisonment to denounce the Ukraine invasion. 

Historians are Being Asked to Spin Simple Stories of Nationalism; The Past Won't Cooperate

by Joe Djordjevski

Nationalist forces in both Bulgaria and North Macedonia want to use historians to reach a definitive conclusion to debates over the territory's ethnic and national identity. But from the collapse of the Ottoman Empire to the fall of Communism, those questions have been complex, difficult, and ambiguous. 

Can the Ukraine Crisis Push the UN To the Reforms it Needs to Remain Relevant?

by Gary B. Ostrower

The United Nations' power to prevent war has long been subordinated to the protection of traditional national sovereignty. Will instability push the powerful nations on the Security Council to accept change? 

50 Years After the Paris Accords: How the US Lost, then Won, in Vietnam

by Robert Buzzanco

As Vietnam becomes increasingly integrated into global capitalism, the temptation to identify a long-term victory for American interests in southeast Asia should be tempered by awareness of the massive human cost paid by the Vietnamese. 

A Portrait of Carlos Franqui

by Ken Weisbrode

The autodidact poet, journalist and propagandist Carlos Franqui was instrumental in making the Cuban revolution chic. He was also one of the first of the revolutionary generation to abandon it. 

On Ukraine, International Law is Against Russia—But to What Consequence?

by Lawrence Wittner

If the United Nations can define the rules of international relations, but sufficiently powerful nations can flout them without consequence, it's time for a change in global governance. 

Do Sanctions on Russia Portend a Return to the Interwar Order of Trade Blocs?

by Carl J. Strikwerda

The economic response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine has raised the specter of a new Cold War. But a better—and scarier—analogy might be the drastic contraction of global trade and the rise of colonial and imperial trade blocs between the World Wars. 

What's Hiding in Putin's Family History?

by Chris Monday

The details of Vladimir Putin's personal and family life are surprisingly (and by design) difficult to pin down. A historian suggests that his grandfather was more powerful, and more influential on the future Russian leader's fortunes, than Putin's common man mythology suggests. 

Resisting Nationalism in Education

by Jacob Goodwin

"Countering the pull toward nationalistic authoritarianism requires intellectual openness and curiosity.  This is a challenge in the time of recovery from the global pandemic, environmental catastrophe and jagged economic turbulence."

Two Unlikely Champions of Fundamentalist Parties Show it's More about Power than Faith

by Donne Levy

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returns to power after embracing religious fundamentalist parties in a coalition. Like his friend Donald Trump, he seems an unlikely leader for a faith-based constituency to embrace. 

My First Trip to Russia 30 Years Ago Is a Cautionary Tale Now

by Steven Knipp

The decades since the fall of Communism have borne out a Russian saying: "The horses of hope gallop. But the donkeys of experience go slowly.”

We Know About Fire. What Does Ice Tell Us About Humanity's Past and Future?

by Fred Hogge

Harnessing cold – both natural and artificially-created—has been a key support for human flourishing, but also a factor in the consumption of resources that imperils the environment. 

Will the United States Accept Responsibility to Lead with a New Marshall Plan for Climate?

by James Thornton Harris

Although the United States has refused to accept the principle that it owes global reparations for past damage to the atmosphere, could reframing the issue as one of global leadership, instead of punishment, appeal to the nation's better instincts? 

Mussolini in Myth and Memory

by Paul Corner

Italians' recollection of Mussolini and the Fascist regime embody the replacement of historical memory with national mythology—a mythology that dismisses both the violence of the dictatorship and Italians' collective responsibility for it and enables the resurgence of the far right today.

Writing My Father Into History

by Stephen G. Rabe

As a child, the author developed an interest in history by hearing his father's stories on the journey from parachuting in to Normandy to the Brandenburg Gate and the occupation of Berlin. But he waited until retirement to research and write about them. 

How an Abstract "War on Terror" Became All Too Real in Iraq and Afghanistan

by Roger Peace

Politics drove the Bush administration to expand the scope of a military response to 9/11 to cover costly entanglements in Afghanistan and Iraq. 

Will the Republican's Tilt Toward Isolationism End?

by Waller R. Newell

The Republican Party's fracturing between the remaining neocons and a younger group of isolationists comes at a critical moment when Russia is testing the possible limits on its expansive ambitions. 

What's New About Putin's Nuclear Threats? Just that the US is on the Receiving End

by David P. Barash

From the American perspective, the seeming danger of Putin's nuclear saber-rattling is partly due to the novelty of being on the receiving end. 

Can the World Stop Imperialist War?

by Lawrence Wittner

It's past time to finish the halting progress made a century ago to rally international cooperation against imperial aggression. The stakes are too high to leave peace in the hands of individual nations. 

Does Novelist Robert Keable Deserve a Reappraisal?

by Simon Keable-Elliott

Briefly celebrated in the 1920s, then consigned to posthumous obscurity, the missionary and novelist, whose experiences encompassed the collision of colonialism, war and racism in the British empire, is overdue for rediscovery.