Links to Recent Articles of Interest
By Maurizio Valsania, The Conversation, posted July 6.
The title expresses the point of the article. The author teaches US history at the University of Turin, specializing in the Early Republic, and has had two books on Thomas Jefferson published by the U. of Virginia Press.
By Wolfgang Streeck, NLR [New Left Review] Sidecar, posted July 2
On the economics and politics of the military spending by NATO countries in recent years. ” For the countries there [Western Europe], the ever more urgent question will be whether they aspire to become more than an American auxiliary charged with controlling Russia and assisting in the upcoming battle with China
The author is a German economic sociologist and emeritus director of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies in Cologne.
The author is a German economic sociologist and emeritus director of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies in Cologne.
By George Beebe, Responsible Statecraft, posted July 1
Argues that lessons from both the beginning and the end of World War One have been ignored in NATO's strategic planning in regard to the Ukraine war. The author is a former Russia analyst for the CIA and is currently Grand Strategy director of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.
Interview by Amy Goodman and Nermeen Shaikh, Democracy Now!, posted June 30
Anatol Lieven is a policy analyst and author of several books on Russia and its neighbors. He is a senior fellow of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.
By Alan Singer, Daily Kos, posted June 30
A sometimes startling sample of rhetoric and laws aimed at a variety of immigrants, from the colonial period into the 1920s. The author is a historian and director of social studies education at Hofstra University.
By Jeffrey D. Sachs, Common Dreams, posted June 28
“The Biden Administration is packed with the same neocons who championed the US wars of choice in Serbia (1999), Afghanistan (2001), Iraq (2003), Syria (2011), Libya (2011), and who did so much to provoke Russia's invasion of Ukraine.” The author is a University Professor and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University.
By Rajan Menon, TomDispatch.com, posted June 26
Teases-out the dimensions of three possible ways in which the war might end, arguing that, in any case, “in 2022, with so much headed in the wrong direction, a major war is the last thing this planet needs.” The author teaches international relations at the Powell School, City College of New York and is the author of The Conceit of Humanitarian Intervention (Oxford U. Press, 2016).
By Saul Cornell, Slate, posted June 24
“The old originalism of Robeert Bork and Chief Justice William Rehnquist sought to use history to constrain judicial discretion and activism. The new originalism favored by Thomas and his fellow originalists has embraced judicial activism on steroids.” The author teaches US history at Fordham University, and among his books is A Well-Regulated Militia: the Founding Fathers and the Origins of Gun Control in America (Oxford U. Press, 2006).
By John J. Mearsheimer, National Interest, posted June 23
A lengthy, detailed argument that US policy was principally responsible for the war's outbreak and that current US policy, in its focus on weakening Russia, is downgrading the prospects for a negotiated settlement and for an end to suffering in Ukraine. The author teaches political science and international relations at the University of Chicago.
By Anatol Lieven, Portside, posted June 18
Says that many Russian intellectuals who loathe Putin and opposed the invasion are now joining in support for the war effort out of “an increasingly strong feeling that the United States is trying to use the war in Ukraine to cripple or even destroy the Russian state.”
By Jessica L. Adler, History News Network, posted June 12
On the threat posed by Florida's law H.B.7, passed in April, which in part sets rules for the content of history instruction in public colleges and universities, especially in regard to race. “For the sake of public university students who deserve free access to information and knowledge, let us not fall silent.”The author teaches US history at Florida International University.
Thanks to Steve Gosch and an anonymous reader for suggesting some of the articles included in the above list, and to Bob Hannigan for consultation. Suggestions can be sent to jimobrien48@gmail.com. However, the next list will be sent in early August.