Note: “Truth, Dissent & the Legacy of Daniel Ellsberg,” a virtual national conference commemorating the release of the Pentagon Papers 50 years ago, will take place Friday and Saturday April 30 and May 1, sponsored by the History Department of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The speakers list is extraordinary, including Ellsberg himself as well as Edward Snowden, John Dean, Frances FitzGerald, Elizabeth Holtzman, and many others. The conference is “Free, Online, and Open to All.”
Links to Recent Articles of Interest
By William Astore, TomDispatch.com, posted April 8
On the revival of traditional Cold War thinking in US military planning. The author, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, taught history for fifteen years at military and civilian schools.
Transcribed interview with Peter Kuznick, theAnalysis.news, posted April 8.
“On the significance of Daniel Ellsberg's decades of fighting against US military policies starting with his release of the Pentagon Papers 50 years ago. Peter Kuznick teaches history at American University, where he is director of the Nuclear Studies Institute.
By Ari Fife, OU [University of Oklahoma] Daily, posted April 6
A richly illustrated article with scholars' commentary on the long history of suppression and denial of the 1921 massacre of up to 300 Black residents of Tulsa. The author is a journalism student at the University of Oklahoma.
By Jason Morgan Ward, New York Times, posted March 31
“The long struggle to block access to the ballot has always relied on legal maneuvering and political schemes to achieve what bullets and bombs alone could not.” The author teaches history at Emory University. Among his books is Defending White Democracy: The Making of a Segregationist Movement and the Remaking of Racial Politics, 1936-1965 (U. of North Carolina Press, 2011).
By Aviva Chomsky,TomDispatch.com, posted March 30
The author teaches history at Salem State University. Her new book Central America's Forgotten History: Revolution, Violence, and the Roots of Migration is due out later this month from Beacon Press.
By Olivia B. Waxman, Time magazine, posted March 30
A readable, illustrated article that gives voice to many educators about ways in which Asian-American history is missing or misrepresented in K-12 education. The author is a Time staff writer.
By Andrew Bacevich, TomDispatch.com, posted March 28
A summing-up of twenty years of the US war in Afghanistan. The author is a professor emeritus of history and international relations at Boston University and president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. His most recent book is The Age of Illusions: How American Squandered It Cold War Victory (Macmillan, 2020).
By Margaret Power and Kevin Young, History News Network, posted March 28
On the Virtual Speakers Program recently launched by H-PAD, along with other resources. The authors teach history at the Illinois Institute of Technology and the University of Massachusetts Amherst, respectively. Margaret Power is co-chair of H-PAD and Kevin Young a member of the steering committee.
Edited by Carlos Osorio, National Security Archive, posted March 23
A set of declassified documents related to US government knowledge of the plotting behind a military coup that led to seven years of bloody dictatorship in Argentina. The latest of many “briefing books” on episodes in US foreign policy from the National Security Archive at George Washington University.
By Alfred McCoy, TomDispatch.com, posted March 21
An overview of strategic moves by China and the US and the need for cooperation amid climate change.The author teaches history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his books include In the Shadows of the American Century: The Rise and Decline of U.S. Global Power (Dispatch Books, 2017).
Thanks to Rusti Eisenberg and an anonymous reader for suggesting some of the above articles. Suggestions can be sent to jimobrien48@gmail.com.