Links to Recent Articles of Interest
By Nick Turse, TomDispatch.com, posted January 4
Recalls the claims made at the outset of the “War on Terror” regarding effectiveness and cost with the actual history of the past two decades. The author is an investigative journalist and associate editor of the blog TomDispatch.
By Jeremy Kuzmarov, Covert Action Magazine, posted December 31
A documented and illustrated rundown of negative aspects of the Biden foreign policy on a wide range of foreign and military policies. The author has taught history at several universities and is editor of Covert Action Magazine.
By Andrew J. Bacevich, The American Conservative, posted December 22
An extensive review essay on books by Carter Malkasian and Craig Whitlock on the history of the US war in Afghanistan. The author is a professor emeritus of history and foreign relations at Boston University.
By Michael G. Vann, Jacobin, posted December 21
An appreciation of the former American Historical Association president who died last month at age 67. “Throughout his vibrant career, he used pathbreaking research, critical analysis, and engaging lectures as weapons in the fight for social justice.” The author teaches history at Sacramento State University.
By Chris Cameron, New York Times, posted December 19
A history going back to the US occupation of 1915-34. “Making sense of American policy in Haiti over the decades — driven at times by economic interests, Cold War strategy and migration concerns — is vital to understanding Haiti’s political instability, and why it remains the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.”
By George Dehner, History News Network, posted December 19
Argues that, “as a people,” we have paid a price for the failure to learn from the lessons of the 1918 flu pandemic, which cost up to 750,000 lives in the US. The author teaches history at Wichita State University and is the author of Influenza: A Century of Science and Public Health Response (U. of Pittsburgh Press, 2012).
By Rachel Sheldon, Washington Post, posted December 17
On congressional deliberations over slavery in the 1850s. “Much like today, the 1850s Washington bubble gave long-serving federal officials a false confidence that the republic could be saved through congressional compromise.” The author teaches history at Penn State and is director of the Civil War Era Center there.
By Sam Roberts, New York Times, posted December 16
On the life and career of Caribbean historian Julius Scott, whose 1980s dissertation, “The Common Wind: Afro-American Currents in the Age of the Haitian Revolution” circulated widely for decades until finally being published in book form by Verso Press in 2018.
By James H. Sweet, AHA Perspectives on History, posted December 15
Relates the author's experience as a white student in newly integrated public schools in Charlotte, North Carolina to present-day controversies about the teaching about race in US history courses. The author teaches history at the University of Wisconsin and is president of the American Historical Association.
By H. Patricia Hynes, Portside.org, posted December 15
A brief but comprehensive survey of how government policies, most notably from the New Deal onward, created segregated housing and thereby stifled African American families' opportunities to accumulate wealth on anywhere near the scale of white families. The author is a longtime social justice activist and a retired professor of urban environmental health.
Thanks to Rusti Eisenberg and an anonymous reader for suggesting articles included in the above list. Suggestions can be sent to jimobrien48@gmail.com.