Roundup

The Myth of Thanksgiving

by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

“Thanksgiving” became a named holiday during the Civil War, but neither Pilgrims, nor Indians, nor food, nor the Mayflower—all essential to today’s celebration—were mentioned in Lincoln’s 1863 proclamation.

Russians Invade Afghanistan (Again!), Chinese Fight Iraq War (Again!)

by Tom Engelhardt

What If It Weren’t Us?

Are there lessons to be learned from Algeria’s past?

by Dalia Ghanem-Yazbeck

If left to rot, the areas currently under ISIL control will ultimately rebel against their occupiers.

Cold War 2.0 not a likely win for the US

by Robert Freeman

Today, things are dramatically different. Other countries have caught up with and even surpassed the U.S. in economic power.

Thomas Menino: The mayor who welcomed Sacco and Vanzetti

by Richard Kreitner

It took a special Bostonian to put a sculpture of anarchists in the Boston Public Library.

Malarkey on the Potomac

by Andrew J. Bacevich

Five Bedrock Washington Assumptions That Are Hot Air

When Is a War Over?

by Elizabeth D. Samet

Knowing when — and how — to stop is a problem as old as war itself.

Are great leaders a thing of the past? Maybe it’s just that our world got larger

by Andrew Coyne

Maybe it’s just that our world got larger.

Roundup Top 10!

This week's broad sampling of opinion pieces found on the Internet, as selected by the editors of HNN.

Sherrod Brown Should Challenge Hillary Clinton for President

by Michael Kazin

For progressive Democrats, Brown would be a nearly perfect nominee.

Save the Humanities in Our Public Schools

by Helen Vendler

We're depriving students of their national heritage. Here's how to fix that.

3rd Possibility: Coming Civil War in West Bank/ Jerusalem?

by Juan Cole

Observers of the evolution of the relationship between Israel and the Palestinians have long argued that there are only two likely outcomes of the alternating violence and diplomacy between the two sides that has gone on nearly 70 years now.

This Republican Loved Taxes & Modern Art

by Scott Porch

A social progressive and a fiscal conservative, Nelson Rockefeller was closer to FDR than Reagan, says his biographer Richard Norton Smith.

Does Texas Care About the Truth in the Textbooks It Approves?

by Christopher Rose

Texas is Adopting New History Textbooks: Maybe They Should Be Historically Accurate.

The New Republic at 100: A Century of Bickering

by Jennifer Schuessler

With the magazine celebrating its 100th anniversary, a former Yahoo News executive was hired for the top of the masthead, setting off speculation about a new direction.

Imperfect Union: The Constitution Didn't Foresee Divided Government

by Garrett Epps

Watching the battle between Obama and a Republican Congress for two years may shake Americans' faith in the Framers.

This is how kids are learning the history of the French Revolution now (video)

by Kabir Chibber

Let Them Play Assassin's Creed? With sympathetic noblemen and bloodthirsty common folk, the French Revolution-set Unity is re-igniting an historic debate over the period's heroes and villains.

Common Core: It Really Is All About the Tests (and Corporate Profits)

by Alan Singer

When you look at the history of the push for national standards you realize Common Core is all about testing.

Obama’s JFK Problem

by Fredrik Logevall and Gordon M. Goldstein

How the battle between the president and his joint chiefs chairman over Iraq recalls the early days of Vietnam.

How DNA Is Reshaping How We See Ourselves—and Our History

by Simon Worrall

Many of our traits and decisions are shaped by our ancestors, author says.