News Abroad

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• 2/14/2021
  

  How Abraham Lincoln Can Inspire Peace for Yemen

  by William Lambers

  The postwar "friendship train" campaign involved Americans personally in delivering food to the hungry in Europe, and symbolized the nation's larger commitment to the Marshall Plan. A similar broad effort could help advance the policies needed to end the humanitarian crisis of war and starvation in Yemen. 

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• 1/31/2021
  

  The Audacious Escape of George Blake

  by Steve Vogel

  George Blake was the most notorious double agent in Cold War Britain, which makes the story of his amateurish (but successful) escape from prison all the more remarkable. 

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• 12/20/2020
  

  Trump's Troop Withdrawal in Afghanistan: Part 2 – Is There Even a "Trump Doctrine"?

  by Brian Glyn Williams

  Many Americans have bought Donald Trump's claim that he seeks to extricate the U.S. from "endless wars," including in Afghanistan. Viewed in the context of his other foreign policy actions, this claim is nonsensical, and undermines the work being done in support of global democracy and American interests.

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• 12/20/2020
  

  Peace is Good. But are More Peace Deals Necessarily Better?

  by Catherine Baylin Duryea

  The recent normalization of relations between Israel and Morocco extends longstanding covert cooperation between the two nations, but troublingly reflects Mideast politics that are increasingly aimed at isolating Iran. It also includes concessions that  contribute to the marginalization of the people of Western Sahara.

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• 12/13/2020
  

  Will Biden Shake Up a Century of US-Ireland Relations?

  by Mark Holan

  As the second Irish-American Catholic president, Joe Biden may be expected to sprinkle his speeches with lines from Seamus Heaney, but he's likely to tread a moderate path as issues like Brexit test the Irish-American relationship. 

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• 12/20/2020
  

  Trump's Troop Withdrawal in Afghanistan: Part 1 – Abandoning a Vulnerable Ally in the War on Terror

  by Brian Glyn Williams

  Donald Trump's plan to withdraw troops from Afghanistan misrepresents the scope and costs of the American mission and ignores the high stakes of failure for both Afghans and American security, according to a scholar of the War on Terror. 

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• 11/15/2020
  

  Can the COVID Crisis Create a New Civilian-Military Trust in Argentina?

  by David M. K. Sheinin y Cesar R. Torres

  Many Argentinians have been suspicious of military involvement in civil affairs since the end of the country's military dictatorship in 1983. Two scholars ask if the COVID crisis presents an opportunity for healing and reimagining the military's role in Argentina.

• 
• 11/1/2020
  

  Mythologies Without End: The U.S., Israel, and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1917-2020

  by Jerome Slater

  The author of a new history of the Israel-Palestine conflict argues that a myth of national innocence crafted by Israel and embraced by the United States impedes pragmatic compromise and costs lives through ongoing violence. 

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• 11/1/2020
  

  From a Victorian to a Twenty-First Century Understanding of Why History Matters

  by Priya Satia

  "Churchill was the apotheosis of the historically-minded statesman, committed to the idea of history as progress in which the role of great men was to suppress ordinary moral compunctions about destructive events that forwarded it."

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• 11/1/2020
  

  A Kick in the Leg: The Secret, Corrupt Political History of the Nobel Peace Prize

  by Unni Turrettini

  The Nobel Prize Commiteee has departed from Alfred Nobel's wishes to honor the cause of global demilitarization and disarmament in favor of statements of political favor in the awarding of the Peace Prize. 

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• 11/1/2020
  

  Trump Claims Credit for Defeating ISIS. Pentagon Documents Show Otherwise

  by Brian Glyn Williams

  A historian and scholar of the War on Terror says that Trump's claims of credit in the fight against ISIS are hot air. 

• 
• 10/25/2020
  

  The Queen's Two Bodies

  by Ed Simon

  Queen Elizabeth's speech to English soliders in anticipation of the Spanish invasion of 1588 rallied the troops for a battle that never happened. But it anticipated today's cultural battle over the stability of gender categories. 

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• 10/18/2020
  

  Lessons from the 18th Century Dutch Republic

  by Matthijs Tieleman

  The history of the Dutch Republic demonstrates that polarization can gradually destroy a country from within and can easily be exploited by foreign actors. The embrace of political pluralism by every citizen is the key antidote to the rot of polarization.

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• ‘One Man, and One Man Alone’: Mussolini’s War

  by John Gooch

  Mussolini acted on the spur of the moment, always sensitive to the need to be seen as Hitler’s equal.  Rarely did anyone ever try to talk him out of a chosen course, and when they did so they failed.  You couldn’t reason with him.

• 
• 10/11/2020
  

  Who Owns Churchill?: Three Mythic Configurations

  by Steven Fielding, Bill Schwarz, and Richard Toye

  A new book examines the ways that Winston Churchill's image has been used in British politics, not least by Churchill himself.

• 
• 10/4/2020
  

  "Follow the Science," but Explain and Apologize

  by Susan M. Reverby

  Governments need to establish trust so that their public health announcements are credible and persuasive, but have undermined that trust by conducting ethically questionable studies. A model of apology is part of the solution. 

• 
• 8/23/2020
  

  Mourning Two Civil Rights Heroes Across the Atlantic

  by Donald M. Beaudette and Laura Weinstein

  As we remember John Hume and John Lewis, we should find inspiration to continue their struggle.

• 
• 8/23/2020
  

  In Removing Confederate Symbols, US Military Follows German Military’s Example

  by Fred Zilian

  With unification, a fundamental break with the values of the East German Communist Party was necessary. Former East German soldiers would now belong to an army of a democracy, rooted in the concept of the “citizen in uniform."

• 
• 8/16/2020
  

  Trump's Removal of Troops from Germany Follows a Trend

  by Michael Creswell

  While Trump's decision to halve the contingent of US troops in Germany has drawn bipartisan condemnation, critics should recognize that whether the decision is wise or foolish for today's context, it is in line with decades of efforts to shift the burdens of collective security onto NATO allies. 

• 
• 8/2/2020
  

  30 Years Later: Saddam Hussein's Fateful Decision to Invade Kuwait

  by Guy Laron

  It was clear from the outset that this was a desperate gamble that put Iraq on a collision course with Washington. But Saddam believed he had no other choice but to stop Kuwait from dumping oil into a slack market.