History
Longer pieces that take an in-depth look at a historical topic. Often political, and generally relevant to contemporary events, these pieces generally include some of my best original work
Mikhail Gorbachev: A Noble Failure
(Originally published on AMAC https://amac.us/mikhail-gorbachev-a-noble-failure/)
The cult of Robert E. Lee and may have served its purpose, but we need an alternative not erasure
The criticisms of the cult of the Confederacy in the South, that it excludes African Americans and minimizes the crimes of slavery are beyond a doubt true. But critics seem more interested in destroying idols than unity.
General Jackson is Dead Sir
Recent comments about the Civil War have reopened a debate that wrongly focuses on "what the Civil War was about?" rather than the more interesting question of why it had to be fought.
The Problem With Debates About Russian Expansionism: A Historical Consideration of Empire and Russian Foriegn Policy
What the West sees as Russian expansionism into Europe in fact represents a dillema no Russian leader mas managed to solve in three centuries. How ensure that its neghbors are not anti-Russian absent occupation.
"We Shall Meet Again in Other Boulangisms" The Right's 150 Year Fascination with Demogogues
The embrace of the former democrat, one-time liberal, Donald Trump by the American right is part of a long tradtion of conservatives trying to sell their policies through political merceneries.
American History, Southern Identity, and the Politics of Race
If there has been one consistent aspect of racial controversies in American politics, it is that much like joining ISIS, the effort is almost certain to end in a suicide bombing, or the political equivalent.
Slavery and the Origins of the American Civil War: A Rebuttle to Libertarian Revisionism
There have been repeated efforts to recast the Civil War as a conflict over the constitutional relationship between states and the federal government. Ultimately, however, those issues all related to slavery.
Brazil, History and "Imperial" States
The political crisis in Brazil points to larger structural weaknesses in the Brazilian state that have always made it unlikely that the ascent to global power would go smoothly for the Latin American giant.
The Ghosts of Munich: Barack Obama and the Wrong Lessons of History
It is common for historians to invoke the spectre of the Munich crisis of 1938 to suggest we should not "forget it's lessons." But what precisely were they, and are the right ones being invoked?
