- Astrobiology highlights of 2018 Caleb Scharf, Life, Unbounded
- How the British constitution created the Brexit mess John McGinnis, Law & Liberty
- Government as a branch of culture Arnold Kling, askblog
- Russia moves to strangle Ukraine from the sea Christian Esch, Der Spiegel
Links
Nightcap
- The Indo-Pacific, the Belt and Road, and the Arctic Samir Saran, WEF
- Another neoliberal miracle Scott Sumner, EconLog
- Dear libertarians, refrain from using the “neoliberal” label Vincent Geloso, NOL
- Will social democracy return? Branko Milanovic, globalinequality
Nightcap
- The children of the Revolution James Banker, Quillette
- The establishment will never say ‘no’ to a war Andrew Sullivan, Interesting Times
- The warning Jim Mattis delivered David French, National Review
- Muslim refugees in perspective Jacques Delacroix, NOL
Nightcap
- Why ethnic separatism doesn’t work Alice Su, Aeon
- Alan Dershowitz is lying to you Ken White, Popehat
- Win for Erdogan, betrayal for the Kurds Cengiz Candar, Al-Monitor
- Which political axis will emerge? Arnold Kling, askblog
Nightcap
- What cafés did for liberalism Adam Gopnik, New Yorker
- How the Catholic Church created our liberal world Tanner Greer, American Conservative
- How meritocracy and populism reinforce each other’s fault Ross Douthat, New York Times
- Extraterrestrial preservation of terrestrial heritage Nick Nielsen, Grand Strategy Annex
Nightcap
- “Make America Free Again” isn’t Trump’s agenda Jacob Levy, Cato Unbound
- What’s wrong with liberalism? Daniel Wootten, History Today
- China’s long history of trouble with Islam Ian Johnson, ChinaFile
- “A hot dinner and a bloody supper” Felix Schürmann, Age of Revolutions
RCH: the Christmas Battles in Latvia
That’s the subject of this weekend’s column over at RealClearHistory. An excerpt:
9. The battles didn’t actually take place on Christmas Day. They actually occurred in early January. However, under the old czarist Julian calendar, the battles occurred over the Christmas season, from Dec. 23-29. The Germans were caught by surprise because even though it was January in the West, it was Christmas season in Russia and the Germans believed the Russians would be celebrating their Christmas rather launching a major counter-offensive.
And
3. The Siberians were eventually slaughtered. The Siberians who refused to fight were not necessarily betraying their Latvian brothers-in-imperium. They knew they were cannon fodder. And, indeed, when the Siberians finally went to reinforce the Russian gains made, they were greeted with a massive German counter-offensive. The Siberians (and others) were left for dead. They received no food, no weapons, and no good tidings of comfort and joy.
Please, read the rest (and tell your friends about it). It’s my last post at RCH for the year, so there’s lots of links to other World War I-themed articles I wrote throughout 2018.
Nightcap
- Against dogma Henry Hardy, Footnotes to Plato
- How “collective self-defense” leads to more war Bryce Farabaugh, Niskanen Center
- English language and American solipsism Branko Milanovic, globalinequality
- Towards a new internationalism David Hendrickson, the Nation
Nightcap
- How does emigration impact institutions? Michelangelo Landgrave, NOL
- How Can Crypto-currencies Democratize Society? Chhay Lin Lim, NOL
- The Political is about to disrupt the crypto-currency scene -or at least they say so. Federico Sosa Valle, NOL
- A few further remarks on foreign policy and libertarianism Edwin van de Haar, NOL
RCH: Playing catch-up (Churchill, Rosa Parks, and Christmas in the New World)
I hope y’all have been enjoying my “nightcaps.” I have a wife, a toddler, and another little one due next month so life is too hectic to write much, but I have been plugging away at RealClearHistory and here are a few of the ones I’ve done over the past 14 days or so:
- This isn’t Rosa Parks’ bus anymore
- 10 reasons Churchill was more man than myth*
- The American women who shaped Churchill, and Great Britain
- Wars and the evolution of Christmas in America
We’re still here. We still love blogging. Thanks for stickin’ around. The year ain’t over yet, and 2019 at NOL figures to be the best one ever. I’ll be back soon with my end of the year posts, one for most popular notes and one highlighting my personal favorites.
*for copyright reasons RCH had to use a different photo for the piece, but I submitted this one. It’s waaaaay cooler.
Nightcap
- Collective psychiatry (communist psychiatry) Emily Baum, Aeon
- The virtue of judicial self-restraint William Haun, National Affairs
- Two roads for the new French Right Mark Lilla, New York Review of Books
- Where politics and theology are hard to disentangle Bruce Clark, Erasmus
Nightcap
- Welcome back, American nationalism Francis Buckley, Cato Unbound
- When belief makes reality David Riesbeck, Policy of Truth
- The slave holders on the border Melchisedek Chétima, Africa is a Country
- Yes, The Black Hole is Legit Sci-fi Rick Brownell,
MediumCosgrrrl
Nightcap
- Trump still trying to squelch media’s left-wing slant Robbie Soave, Hit & Run
- People, there’a a whole wide world out there Scott Sumner, EconLog
- The painted towns of Rajasthan (India) John Butler, Asian Review of Books
- Beyond the SETI paradigm Nick Nielsen, Grand Strategy Annex
Nightcap
- Hanukkah’s Celebration of Assimilation Michael Koplow, Ottomans & Zionists
- How apartheid poisoned the world Peter Hain, Spectator
- A new understanding of human fragility and wholeness Stefanos Geroulanos, Aeon
- GM vs. Tariff Man Shikha Dalmia, the Week
Nightcap
- The original meaning of the 14th Amendment Damon Root, Reason
- Understanding politics today Stephen Davies, Cato Unbound
- It sometimes begins with Emerson Irfan Khawaja, Policy of Truth
- RealClearHistory‘s 10 best history films of 2018
Notes On Liberty 