Cover of "American Civil Wars" by Alan Taylor.

Our Civil War Was Bigger Than You Think

Alan Taylor’s case for thinking of it as a continental conflict.
NYPD arrests hundreds, including members of the Jewish group Not In Our Name, at a pro-Palestinian protest in Brooklyn on April 23, 2024.

Jewish Critics of Zionism Have Clashed with American Jewish Leaders for Decades

American foreign aid to Israel has long relied on the support of American Jews. But American Jews have never been unified in their support for Israel.
A photograph of saxophonist Dexter Gordon at Jazzhus Montmartre in Copenhagen in 1964.

Why the Nordic Countries Emerged as a Haven for 20th-Century African American Expatriates

An exhibition in Seattle spotlights the Black artists and performers who called Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden home between the 1930s and the 1980s.
Frederick Douglas.

What Frederick Douglass Learned from an Irish Antislavery Activist

Frederick Douglass was introduced to the idea of universal human rights after traveling to Ireland and meeting with Irish nationalist leaders.
Cover of "Aiding Ireland" featuring potato plant.

Aiding Ireland: The Politics Of How Donors Learned To Give To Far-Off Strangers

A new book argues that Irish famine philanthropy “went viral” in the nineteenth century because relief has been, and continues to be, politically potent.
Hands manipulating the earth like a Rubik's cube.

When the C.I.A. Messes Up

Its agents are often depicted as malevolent puppet masters—or as bumbling idiots. The truth is even less comforting.
Éamon de Valera, shown between 1918 and 1920, around the time he escaped from prison. He later became prime minister and president of Ireland.

The New York-Born Politician Who Was Convicted, then Became President

Éamon de Valera was accused of attempting an armed uprising against the government. Then he made a daring jailbreak, and later became president of Ireland.
A column of Soviet armored vehicles arrives to reinforce the military presence in Kabul on Jan. 30, 1980.

The Forgotten World War III Scare of 1980

Moscow and Washington trapped themselves in a cycle of fear over Iran.
St. Basil's Cathedral spire about to pierce the world like a balloon.

Why Would Anyone Want to Run the World?

The warnings in Cold War history.
Carbinari seal of a woman holding a liberty cap.

Lady Liberty in Restoration Italy? Crime, Counterfeit, and Carbonari Revolutionary Politics

Following Napoleon’s fall, international secret societies emerged promoting dissent from absolutist forms of power and sharing ideologies and iconographies.
Marketplace in New Orleans, 1936.

New Orleans as a Nexus of Power

American empire, bananas, and the Crescent City.
Migrants being processed by the U.S. Border Patrol at a new makeshift camp after crossing the US-Mexico border.

America Turned Against Migrant Detention Before

Detaining migrants is pointless. American history proves it.
American Indians outside of Fort Laramie.

“Invasion is a Structure Not an Event.” On Settler Colonialism and Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness

When he reflected on the consequences of empire, Conrad saw no logic or teleology. He saw mayhem. There is no surety in "Heart of Darkness."
Senator Robert Menendez walking into court
partner

The Long, Sordid History of Foreign Government Lobbying

The many strategies foreign governments have used to shape American policy in their favor.
New York City's Twin Towers.

New 9/11 Evidence Points to Deep Saudi Complicity

Two decades of U.S. policy appear to be rooted in a mistaken understanding of what happened that day.
Sandinista rebels ride a tank in Managua in 1979.
partner

The U.S. Isn’t the Main Character of This History

Researching the Sandinista Revolution from Nicaraguans’ perspective.
A JDL ad from the New York Times.

False Prophet

Meir Kahane's legacy in Israel and America.
Student protesters at Columbia University in April 1968.

Reviving the Language of Empire

On revisiting the anti-imperialism of the 1960s and ’70s amid the return of left internationalism.
Pope Francis.

Whatever Happened to the Language of Peace?

Pope Francis is the only world leader who seems prepared to denounce war.
Man holding Israel flag and Palestine flag

Who Created the Israel-Palestine Conflict?

It wasn’t really Jews or Palestinians. It was the U.S. Congress, which closed American borders 100 years ago this month.
Bishop Desmond Tutu speaks at an International Conference Against Apartheid held in Atlanta, Georgia in 1986.

US Worker Movements and Direct Links Against Apartheid

Today's pro-Palestinian activists are utilizing anti-apartheid tactics from thirty years ago.
Union members and civil rights activists in Georgia protest Shell's business with apartheid South Africa.

Galvanizing the American Public, ANC and Anti-Apartheid

How the ANC went from an organization whose role in the struggle was hotly debated, to being widely hailed as the heir to the international anti-apartheid movement.
Hazel Ying Lee (right) and fellow pilot Virginia Wong (left).

This Chinese American Aviatrix Overcame Racism to Fly for the U.S. During World War II

A second-generation immigrant, Hazel Ying Lee was the first Chinese American woman to receive her pilot's license.
Members of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.

Feminism's Forgotten Free-Trade Past

Jane Addams and the interwar women’s peace movement: feminist contributions to international relations.
A photograph of two Guatemalan women infected with syphillis in U.S. experiements, their eyes covered by black bars.

The Hidden U.S. Experiments in Guatemala

The U.S. purposefully infected thousands of Guatemalans with sexually-transmitted diseases in the 40s and 50s. Their grandchildren still carry the trauma.
J. Robert Oppenheimer lecturing in front of chalkboard.

Oppenheimer’s Second Coming

Japanese were interested when Oppenheimer visited Japan as an honored guest in 1960. Will they be also interested in the Nolan film released today in Japan?
Alexander I
partner

Why Early American Conservatives Loved Russia

A conspiracy theory among New England Federalists led some to contemplate separating from the U.S. during the War of 1812.
Sheet music for "Massa's in de Cold Ground" as sung by Christy's Minstrels.

Christy’s Minstrels Go to Great Britain

Minstrel shows were an American invention, but they also found success in the United Kingdom, where audiences were negotiating their relationships with empire.

American Exchanges: Third Reich’s Elite Schools

How the Nazi government used exchange student programs to foster sympathy for Nazism in the United States.
Vice President Joe Biden visits Israel on January 13, 2014.

The Shoah After Gaza

Jewish suffering at the hands of Nazis are the foundation on which most descriptions of extreme ideology and atrocity have been built.