Departments

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News Abroad

  • 3/22/2020

    The Cultural Constants of Contagion

    by Ed Simon

    Plague is, in some ways, a type of cultural absolute zero, a shared experience of extremity that does seem to offer certain perennial themes that approach universality.

  • 3/15/2020

    Golda Meir and Women's Wartime Leadership

    by Jonathan W. Jordan and Emily Anne Jordan

    Are women seeking the presidency held back by Americans' mistrust of female military leadership? The example of Golda Meir suggests they shouldn't be.

  • 3/6/2020

    Covering the Troubles in Northern Ireland

    by Ron Steinman

    I covered the Troubles in Northern Ireland for NBC News for four years, from the summer of 1969 until 1973. Even as a journalist with significant experience covering conflict, I knew I was in for a new ride.

  • 2/16/20

    75 Years After the Dresden Bombings

    by Sinclair McKay

    History in Dresen is not an abstract academic pursuit; instead, it is palpable and passionate. It matters enormously. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the horror that made Dresden – deep in eastern Germany - a by-word for annihilation.

  • 2/13/20

    The Travesty of the Century

    by Alon Ben-Meir

    Whereas the US has over the years played a central role in the effort to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, no American administration has provided such a detailed proposal, certainly not one that grants Israel all of its wish list.

  • 2/11/20

    How Somalis Use Theatre to Rebuild Culturally

    by Farah M. Omer

    Modern Somali theatre rose to prominence in the 1960s, the period following the independence and the subsequent unification of Somaliland and Somalia. By the 1970s, there were multiple shows a night in any given city and the average Somali adult was considered a regular theatre goer regardless of socioeconomic status.

  • 2/9/20

    The Cold War New and Old: Architectural Exchanges Beyond the West

    by Łukasz Stanek

    Until today, many urban landscapes in West Africa bear witness to how local authorities and professionals drew on Soviet prefabrication technology, Hungarian and Polish planning methods, Yugoslav and Bulgarian construction materials, Romanian and East German standard designs, and manual laborers from across Eastern Europe.

  • 1/26/20

    Islamophobia Goes Global

    by Zaman Stanizai

    At the end of the Cold War impasse, however, as the Berlin Wall came crumbling down, the ideological divide of the East-West was replaced by the Middle East-West racial, religious, and cultural divide that culminated in the election of Donald Trump and the rise of neo-fascism parading as super-nationalism.

  • 1/26/20

    BBC Whitewashes U.S. Refusal to Bomb Auschwitz

    by Rafael Medoff

    The new BBC documentary about the question of bombing Auschwitz deserves an award—for creative fiction. Through omissions, distortions, and “re-enactments” of conversations with imaginary dialogue inserted for effect, the BBC has made a shambles of the historical record concerning this important issue.

  • 1/19/20

    Poles Apart: Putin, Poland and the Nazi-Soviet Pact

    by Geoffrey Roberts

    As the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II approaches, two of that war’s main victims – Poland and Russia – are once again embroiled in a highly emotional dispute about its origins. At the heart of the matter is the perennial controversy about the Nazi-Soviet pact of 23 August 1939. 

  • 1/19/20

    The World is Losing another Historic Generation

    by Robert Mark Spaulding

    We cannot prevent the passing away of China’s last generation from the pre-communist era, but we can do our part in helping to preserve the ancient culture they knew, so that it does not vanish completely with them.