Departments

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imperialism

  • 5/8/2022

    The Dangerous Trend of Imperial Nostalgia – It's not Just Russia

    by Lawrence Wittner

    The embrace of the belief that nations are entitled to reclaim their past dominance underlies Russia's invasion of Ukraine but also is influencing the politics of Britain, France, China, and the United States. A renewed commitment to international cooperation is needed to thwart this dangerous turn. 

  • SOURCE: Wall Street Journal
    4/18/2022

    Is this the End of the Russian Empire?

    by Walter Russell Mead

    Historic empires have all ultimately faced a moment of reckoning when the reality of their fading power overcomes triumphal myths. The next phase of fighting in Ukraine will determine if that moment has come for Putin's Russia. 

  • SOURCE: Slate
    3/30/2022

    You Can't Teach "Pros and Cons" When it Comes to Empire

    by Priya Satia

    Far from encouraging critical thinking, the "balance sheet" approach to teaching historical atrocities like slavery or imperialism flatters the mythologies created by the powerful to excuse violence against others, says a historian of empire and parent of a high school student. 

  • SOURCE: New Statesman
    3/9/2022

    A Tale of Two Dictators: Putin's Relationship to Stalin's Legacy

    by Simon Sebag Montefiore

    Despite their ideological incompatibility, Putin's nationalism depends on the cult of fear and repressive apparatus of the Stalinist era, which was never comprehensively demolished after the fall of Communism. 

  • SOURCE: Dissent
    3/2/2022

    The Seeds of War

    by Gregory Afinogenov

    Putin's actions belie the argument that Russia was provoked by NATO expansion; Russian imperialism is driving neighbors toward the western alliance, not the other way around. 

  • SOURCE: Substack
    2/3/2022

    The Lazy Bear's Guide to Anti-Imperialism

    by Gabriel Rosenberg

    Too much of the chatter about American military intervention skips over the core problem: the massive flow of resources into the military and weapons programs creates a preference for war.

  • SOURCE: TomDispatch
    12/9/2021

    Are We Forever Captives of the Forever Wars?

    by Karen J. Greenberg

    The Authorization for the Use of Military Force passed by Congress after 9/11 has been expanded from fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan to justify action in at least 19 countries. Repealing it is the first step to freeing Americans from the Pentagon's Forever Wars. 

  • SOURCE: The New Republic
    8/23/2021

    The Phony Feminism of War Cheerleaders

    by Natalie Shure

    "The fact that Afghan women really do face immense oppression makes their cynical use for war-stoking purposes almost unfathomably galling," argues Natalie Shure.

  • SOURCE: The New Republic
    8/20/2021

    The Disasters in Afghanistan and Haiti Share the Same Twisted Root

    by Jonathan M. Katz

    "Both Haiti and Afghanistan owe their sorry conditions to decades of direct U.S. control. Looking closely at the links between the two is essential for understanding how to respond to each in ways that help, rather than do more harm."

  • SOURCE: Public Books
    5/14/2021

    Imperialism: A Syllabus

    by Radhika Natarajan and John Munro

    Two historians present a public syllabus on imperialism that emphasizes the historical origins of contemporary struggles and the ways that ideas of difference are essential to the imperial work of control and exploitation. 

  • SOURCE: The Drift
    2/2/2021

    First-Person Shooter Ideology​: The Cultural Contradictions of Call of Duty

    by Daniel Bessner

    "Right now, this one game is teaching millions of young Americans about the epic struggle between their government and the Soviet Union, a century-defining cataclysm that resulted in tens of millions of deaths, reshaped world history, and engendered the ideological struggles that presently bedevil the public sphere." But the lesson is one of cynical resignation to today's state of endless war.