- We need to talk about the British Empire Sunder Katwala, CapX
- Nazi political economy Pseudoerasmus
- Liberty isn’t free Irfan Khawaja, Policy of Truth
- Institutional oceanography Chris Shaw, Libertarian Ideal
Author: Brandon Christensen
Afternoon Tea: Allegory of the Peace of Westphalia (1654)
This is by Jacob Jordaens, a Flemish painter, and it is not even one of his most famous paintings. Here’s Jordaens’ wiki page. The Peace of Westphalia ended the 30 Years War. The Habsburgs weren’t necessarily the bad guys. The Peace of Westphalia didn’t establish state sovereignty in a system of equal (in theory) nation-states within an interstate order. The Peace of Westphalia solved a religious constitutional question within the Holy Roman Empire and ended the war between the Dutch and the Spanish. The Westphalian state system that we speak of and live in today is not appropriately named. Here’s the best article (pdf) I’ve read on the Peace.
If we were to appropriately name the interstate order that we have today, it would be named the Napoleonic interstate system. Alas. It’s called the Westphalian system. The US, and a couple of other big states like China and Russia, have trouble fitting in to the “Westphalian” state system because they established their own regional state systems long before being wrangled into European imperial entanglements. It goes without saying that polities in Africa, Asia, and the Americas also had trouble fitting into the “Westphalian” state system.
What if one of the regional orders established by the US, Russia, or China were embraced as the new global order, instead of the “Westphalian” (really Napoleonic) system based on nation-state sovereignty? I don’t think this would be a bad thing, and in their own way, the US, China, and Russia have been trying to do this since the end of World War II.
Nightcap
- Who wants common sense? Robin Hanson, Overcoming Bias
- Theory versus common sense: the Dutch Notes On Liberty
- Scotland’s new blasphemy law Madeleine Kearns, L&L
- Academic corruption: government money Arnold Kling, askblog
Nightcap
- Fascinating piece on Ming China’s censorial system Branko Milanovic, globalinequality
- On the farmer’s protests Jeet Singh, Time
- Understanding the rise of socialism Brad Delong, Grasping Reality
- Understanding middlebrow Scott Sumner, Money Illusion
Nightcap
- The imperial sociology of “the tribe” in Afghanistan Nivi Manchanda, Millennium
- Life in the capital city of pre-modern Japan John Butler, Asian Review of Books
- The Irish free trade crisis of 1779 Joel Herman, Age of Revolutions
- Insiders and outsiders in 17th century philosophy Eric Schliesser, Philosophical Reviews
Nightcap
- Great piece on Latin American history Laurence Blair, BBC History
- The political economy of deep integration (pdf) Maggi & Ossa, NBER
- Democracy in the polycentric city (pdf) Loren King, Journal of Politics
- Here’s what I don’t say Christopher Craig, Threepenny Review
Nightcap
- The local touch of Soviet modernism Aliide Naylor, Jacobin
- The bad Muslim discount Kristin Yee, Asian Review of Books
- Ireland, America, and…national parks Melissa Buckheit, FIVES
- Can Japan bring the US back into the TPP? Daisuke Akimoto, Diplomat
Nightcap
- The Mises-(Karl) Polanyi debate (on imperialism) reconsidered Eric Schliesser, Digressions & Impressions
- Racism, entrepreneurship, and love Conor Friedersdorf, Atlantic
- The new power brokers? Index funds and the public interest Sahand Moarefy, American Affairs
- The quiet collapse of Scottish unionism Scott Hames, New Statesman
Nightcap
- Should everything be decentralized? Arnold Kling, Pairagraph
- Is Russia’s future non-Slavic? Eugene Chausovsky, Newlines
- Is America’s future non-European? Samuel Gregg, Law & Liberty
- The myth of Westernization Jon Davidann, Aeon
Nightcap
- Libertarianism is bankrupt Thomas Wells, 3 Quarks Daily
- Neoracism in America today John McWhorter, Persuasion
- Racism, elites, and the have-nots Joanna Williams, spiked!
- Monday morning quarterbacking Jason Brennan, 200-Proof Liberals
Nightcap
- Middle class: questioning the definitions Mary Lucia Darst, NOL
- On Romney’s child allowance proposal Scott Sumner, EconLog
- On the American constitutionalism, and nationalism Dennis Coyle, Modern Age
- Ottomanism, nationalism, and republicanism (IV) Barry Stocker, NOL
Nightcap
- The anti-colonial revolution Adom Getachew (interview), Tribune
- Testing balance-of-power theory in world history (pdf) Deudney, et al, EJIR
- Hayekian balance-of-power theory (pdf) Edwin van de Haar, TIR
- Globalization and peace: A Hayekian perspective (pdf) Adrián Ravier, LP
Nightcap
- The Zulus, the British, and the military revolution of the 19th century Jacob Ivey, Age of Revolutions
- The British, the Holy Roman Empire, and diplomacy in the 17th century Philip Hitchings, British Interest
Nightcap
- Immigration and voting for redistribution Derrill Watson, NOL
- What shouldn’t be surprising about democracy John Hasnas, RCL
- Wobbly: China’s post-Covid future Andrew Scobell, War on the Rocks
- Experts versus elites Robin Hanson, Overcoming Bias
A warm NOL welcome to Vishnu Modur
Folks, as you have probably guessed by now, NOL has a new blogger. His name is Vishnu, and you can read about him right here:
Vishnu Modur is a Ph.D. in molecular biology who works as a cancer biologist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. He has diverse passions outside the lab setting. He is deeply interested in Indic cultural anthropology, Indic philosophy, political philosophy, and philosophy of science. He blogs about his scientific research on Medium and writes about history, politics, and culture on NOL. He quips that as a resident-alien in the United States, he can offer a unique perspective, using his resident and sometimes his ‘alien’ viewpoints on several issues.
Check out his posts so far, and don’t forget to say ‘hi’ in the comments.
Notes On Liberty 