Roundup: Historians' Take

AndrewMc : A Pictoral History of Racism in the United States

[The following is part of a series] After the American Civil War, racial imagery came to be used as a tool of political and social oppression. Not that this wasn't the situation previously, but after the Civil War Africans had the legal right to vote. For racist whites this required new methods of intimidation, and imagery was as important as ever. Here we see an African American and an Irishman depicted as monkey-like, showing that in this early period the use of an ape to depict p

Max Boot: Historian Fred Kagan says we need 40,000 more troops in Afghanistan

[Mr. Boot is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and author, most recently, of"War Made New: Technology, Warfare, and the Course of History, 1500 to Today" (Gotham, 2006).] The dynamic duo of Fred and Kim Kagan have just released a typically cogent and persuasive study of troop requirements in Afghanistan. The entire 46-slide PowerPoint presentation is well worth reading. In it t

Juan Cole: Does Iran want to be a pariah?

Iran's hard-liners are pushing their country into a dangerous and perhaps crippling isolation that could, if Tehran continues on this path, eventually make it another North Korea. Having damaged their legitimacy at home with a stolen election, which is still being actively protested in the streets months later, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are thumbing their noses at the international community. The regime is adamant that it will make no concessions in regard to

Max Boot: Stingy on the Medal of Honor

[Mr. Boot is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and author, most recently, of "War Made New: Technology, Warfare, and the Course of History, 1500 to Today" (Gotham, 2006).] There is no doubt that Sergeant First Class Jared Monti earned the Medal of Honor bestowed by President Obama on Thursday. But he wasn’t around to collect it because he died as a result of the heroic actions for which he was cited. That makes Sergeant Monti an extraordinary human being

Victor Davis Hanson: No Rules in the Arena?

[Victor Davis Hanson is the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow in Residence in Classics and Military History at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, a professor of Classics Emeritus at California State University, Fresno, and a nationally syndicated columnist for Tribune Media Services. He is also the Wayne & Marcia Buske Distinguished Fellow in History, Hillsdale College.] It was certainly uncouth of Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., to scream out "You lie" at his

Daniel Pipes: Peace Process or War Process?

[Daniel Pipes is director of the Middle East Forum and Taube distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University.] When Barack Obama announced in June 2009 about Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy,"I'm confident that if we stick with it, having started early, that we can make some serious progress this year," he displayed a touching, if naïve optimism. Indeed, his determination fits a well-established pattern of determination by politicians to"

Victor Davis Hanson: Desperately Seeking a Healthcare Bill

[Victor Davis Hanson is the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow in Residence in Classics and Military History at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, a professor of Classics Emeritus at California State University, Fresno, and a nationally syndicated columnist for Tribune Media Services. He is also the Wayne & Marcia Buske Distinguished Fellow in History, Hillsdale College, where he teaches each fall semester courses in military history and classical culture.]Speeding

Jim Sleeper: Can Anything Change the Conversation? Maybe This Can.

Two events this month suggest a transition from one conversation about the American republic to another. The old conversation -- often little better than a shouting match or a dance of snarky repartees -- is petering out with the passing, at 89, of Irving Kristol, the"godfather" of neo-conservatism.A different conversation is renewing itself in a voice coming from the center of the old republic, thanks to Nicholas Thompson's gripping, stirring new book,

Juan Cole: Ahmadinejad's Raving Lunatic Anti-Semitism

[Mr. Cole is Professor of Modern Middle Eastern and South Asian History at the University of Michigan. His website is http://www.juancole.com.] President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave a sermon on Friday for"Jerusalem Day" that is full of the most vile crackpot anti-Semitism that can be imagined. Anti-Semitism as a form of bigotry typically ascribes the most abject motives and character to Jews in

Gil Troy: Playing the Race Card Makes for Ugly Politics

[Gil Troy, a professor of history at McGill University and visiting scholar at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, is the author of Leading from the Center: Why Moderates Make the Best Presidents and The Reagan Revolution: A Very Short Introduction.] Barack Obama's election to the presidency was supposed to usher in a new, more mature era of race relations, but it could not evoke nirvana. There's a growing chorus complaining that this summer's hostility to his stimulus package, to

Joanne B. Freeman: Joe Wilson’s War

[Joanne B. Freeman, a professor of history at Yale, is writing a book on Congressional violence in the first half of the 19th century.] ON Tuesday, seven Republicans broke party ranks and voted to reprove Representative Joe Wilson, Republican of South Carolina, for calling President Obama a liar. One of the renegades was Bob Inglis, who upbraided his fellow South Carolinian for a breach of House rules. “That problem could have been fixed by an apology to the House,” Mr. Inglis expla

Tom Engelhardt: War Is Peace

[Tom Engelhardt, co-founder of the American Empire Project, runs the Nation Institute's TomDispatch.com. He is the author of The End of Victory Culture, a history of the Cold War and beyond, as well as of a novel, The Last Days of Publishing. He also edited

Juan Cole: Is Afghanistan Vietnam or Iraq? Arguing with Obama and Rubin

President Barack Obama said Wednesday that he would wait for a while before deciding whether to send more US troops to Afghanistan. The administration is said to be deeply divided on the issue, and Obama says he wants further reports from the State Department and other civilian agencies before he makes a final determination.Obama also

Bob Oakes with Doris Kearns Goodwin: In 'True Compass,' Kennedy Finally Felt Free To Reflect

[Bob Oakes has been WBUR's Morning Edition anchor since 1992.] BOSTON — The late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s new memoir, “True Compass,” provides an inside look at some of the most formative times in the senator’s life. Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer and historian Doris Kearns Goodwin was a long-time family friend of Ted Kennedy’s. She spoke to us from her home about the book and its insights into Kennedy’s life and legacy.Bob Oakes: I imagine that you re

Victor Davis Hanson: The Left, Too Left

[Victor Davis Hanson is the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow in Residence in Classics and Military History at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, a professor of Classics Emeritus at California State University, Fresno, and a nationally syndicated columnist for Tribune Media Services. He is also the Wayne & Marcia Buske Distinguished Fellow in History, Hillsdale College.]Ayersism As Hugo Chavez continues to shut down the media and silence critics, O

Warren Breckman: Canadians faced a hard fight for national health insurance too

[Warren Breckman teaches modern European intellectual history at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of Marx, the Young Hegelians & the Origins of Radical Social Theory, European Romanticism, and the forthcoming Adventures of the Symbolic: Postmarxism and Democratic Theory.] When healthcare reform became a vital issue in the Democratic presidential nomination race in 1992, the Canadian model was essentially swept out of the debate by comments from Senator Paul Tson

Daniel Pipes: One Cheer for Obama's Foreign Policy

[Daniel Pipes is director of the Middle East Forum and Taube distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University.] The Obama administration has established an alarmingly naïve and dangerous record on Arab-Israeli issues, leading me to worry about spectacular policy failures ahead. But it has initiated one innovative and positive policy deserving high praise. Instead of Israel making yet more unilateral concessions to the Palestinians, in late

Peter N. Kirstein: Address on "Constitution Day" Panel

[Peter N. Kirstein is Professor of History at St Xavier University in Chicago] Constitution Day, which is actually on Sept. 17 as if it matters, should be ignored and this university (St Xavier in Chicago) should engage in academic freedom civil disobedience and avoid any connection with such a governmental requirement. Senator Robert Byrd, a former K.K.K. member who to his credit voted for President Barack Hussein Obama and eloquently opposed the Iraq war, initiated this boosterism

Why Obama Blinked: An Interview with Victor David Hanson

[Victor Davis Hanson is the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow in Residence in Classics and Military History at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, a professor of Classics Emeritus at California State University, Fresno, and a nationally syndicated columnist for Tribune Media Services. He is also the Wayne & Marcia Buske Distinguished Fellow in History, Hillsdale College.] Frontpage Interview’s guest Victor Davis Hanson sheds light on the unfolding drama of a presi

Mark Naison: The Serena Williams Meltdown and the Politics of Gender and Race

[Mark Naison is a professor at Fordham University in New York.] Because I am a huge Serena Williams fan--I think she is the most talented women player ever to pick up a racket, and also think she’s beautiful and sexy--many of my friends have asked me to comment on Serena’s disastrous outburst in the semifinals of the US Open, an event which has taken on special significance because of the racially polarized atmosphere in the country at this moment in history. First of a