Recently Published

The Problem with Middle East Studies: A Microscopic Investigation

by Daniel Pipes

As one of the few pro-U.S. and pro-Israel voices in the field of Middle East studies, I find my views get frequently mangled by others in the field – thus I have had to post a 5,000-word document titled “Department of Corrections (of Others' Factual Mistakes about Me)” on my website. Usually, the precise evolution of such mistakes escapes me. Recently, h

Eat Out this Bastille Day ... It's a Tradition

by Tony Perrottet

Many of us will hoist a glass of bubbly and nibble a plate of paté in a Gallic eatery today in a misty-eyed hommage to Bastille Day -- that heart-warming moment in 1789 when a mob stormed a ne

What Are We to Make of Pope Pius XII?

by Paul O'Shea

There have been few problems within contemporary Catholicism that arouse such passions as the subject of Eugenio Pacelli, known to history as Pope Pius XII (1876-1958). Pacelli has been the center of a storm since 1963.

A Historian's Daring Use of Fiction to Tell the Story of the Black Death

by John Hatcher

My new book is not a conventional history book. It combines solid history with fiction. Having studied and taught about the Black Death for more than thirty years I wanted to find a new way of adding to our knowledge and understanding of this massively important but very well-worked historical event. I therefore decided to try to write an intimate history of the tumultuous years of the mid-fourteenth century seen through the eyes of those who lived and died in the ferociously lethal epidem

What's Different About the Immigration Problem We Face Today--And What Can Be Done About It?

by Phil Kretsedemas

It is impossible to ignore the recent growth of the U.S. undocumented migrant population, which has almost tripled over the space of the past fifteen years.

Torture in Democratic Societies: Interview with Darius Rejali

by Robin Lindley

Water boarding.  Hypothermia.  Stress positions.  Prolonged isolation.   Sensory deprivation.  These “clean” tortures leave deep psychological wounds but few physical scars—and they have been used for decades not only by dictatorships, but by democratic governments, including the United States.  After 9/11, Americans used these techniques on so-called “enemy combatants” detained in a system of prisons from Iraq’s

Rumsfeld's Legacy: How Not to Run the Pentagon

by Dale R. Herspring

Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld will go down in history as one of the most arrogant, inconsiderate, and – in the end, most incompetent secretaries of defense the US has had – at least since Robert MacNamara held the job.

How Obama Might Change the Politics of Race in Unexpected Ways

by James C. Cobb

I share Congressman John Lewis’s belief that Barack Obama’s selection as the Democratic standard bearer is a powerful reason to believe we are “in the process of laying down the burden of race.” As a veteran of the Civil Rights movement whose risks and sacrifices made Obama’s achievement possible, Rep. Lewis has every cause to feel vindicated and proud.. Lewis

Before We Send a Man to Mars We Should Remember the Wasted Efforts Spent Finding the North Pole

by Michael Robinson

The Myth of American Diplomacy

by Walter L. Hixson

The Myth of American Diplomacy emphasizes that U.S. foreign policy emanates from a culture of patriotic national identity. As the book derives from secondary sources, depends on theory for its essential argum

Is it Safe Now to Admit Jimmy Carter Was Right?

by Joseph Wheelan

Misunderstood, mocked, and maligned, the 39th president (1977-81) will forever be associated with the Iranian hostage crisis and the botch

Why This July 4th I'm Asking: Is Bill Kristol a Bolshevik?

by james Livingston

“The Declaration of Independence makes a difference.”  That’s Herman Melville talking.  He was trying to say that if you start with the assumption that “all men are created equal,” you will think about, and write differently for, your fellow men—and women.  He said it in the context of a meditation on Hawthorne’s “No, in thunder,” that is, his rejection of the inherited tradition, his declaration of independence from Anglo-E

Indiana Jones for President

by Timothy R. Furnish

Some weeks ago the Economist (June 7th-13th) had on its cover a picture of John McCain and Barack Obama, accompanying the story entitlted “America at its best.” But as July 4th approaches, most folks I know are, au contraire, dumbfounded that these two men are the best we can do for Presidential candidates in a nation of 300 million: in one corner, a naïf with fewer than 2 years in the U.S. Senate and dangerously liberal views; in the other, a cantankerous Abe Simpson clo

Reckoning with the “N” Word

by Andrew Ward

Over the course of writing three books about 19th century African American history, I have wrestled with the problem of what has come to be called the “N” word. It pops up in so many black and white 19th century sources that any historian bellying up to such material has to reckon with it, one way or another.

When Congress Failed to Stop the Vietnam War

by Joel K. Goldstein

Although polls show that two-thirds of the American public think that the war in Iraq is a mistake, Congress is having trouble stopping it. In fact, it continues to fund the war. Congress recently voted to appropriate $162 billion more for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. In the bill, the Democrats included domestic benefits for veterans but yielded to the administration's opposition to any troop withdrawal. Thus, while Congress has power to declare war and controls the public purse, pra

Why Economic Sanctions Often Fail

by Matt Jacobs

On his recent trip to Europe, President Bush pushed the Continent's top leaders to adopt tougher economic sanctions on Iran. Yet there's every reason to believe that the president's visit, even coupled with European sanctions, will not produce results. European nations have supported sanctioning Iran in the past, but they have continued to have strong trade links with the Iranians. With Bush's presidency close to an end, time is running out for concrete agreements between his administr

Habits of Empire: An Interview with Walter Nugent

by David Liebers

Historian Walter Nugent is the author of the just published book: Habits of Empire: A History of American Expansion (Knopf, 2008). He is a member of HNN's advisory board. He was interviewed by email in June.

Give’em Hell, George: The Bush-Truman Analogy

by Ron Briley

As we move to the end of the Bush presidency, there is considerable speculation as to the legacy of the nation’s forty-third President. Right-wing pundits, such as Ann Coulter, laud the President for protecting Americans from domestic terrorism by engaging Al-Qaeda in battle on the Iraqi front. On the other hand, historians seem to agree with the American public which has awarded the President record low poll numbers. In fact, most historians in a recent History News Network

Black Founding Fathers: An Interview with Richard S. Newman

by David Liebers

Richard S. Newman is Professor of History at Rochester Institute of Technology.  His most recent book, Freedom's Prophet: Bishop Richard Allen, the AME Church, and the Black Founding Fathers (NYU Press), is a long overdue biography of Richard Allen, a prodigious figure in the formation of the black Church. He was interviewed by email.

It's No Fault of Yours that You Don't Know About Thomas Jefferson's Sense of Humor

by Kevin J. Hayes