- Russell Brand: a host who (surprisingly) demands intellectual honesty Graham McAleer, Law & Liberty
- What linguistics can tell us about talking to aliens Sheri Wells-Jensen (interview), Scientific American
- World War I and British fantasy literature Iskander Rehman, War on the Rocks
- The history of Ireland has moved out of its traditional comfort zones Patrick Walsh, History Today
Links
RCH: 10 countries that didn’t survive the Cold War
My weekend column over at RealClearHistory is worth a gander. An excerpt:
Aside from the Soviet Union, this list is loaded with countries from Asia and Africa, thanks to the process of decolonization that occurred after World War II. The French and British empires crumbled under the weight of the Nazi war machine, and Paris and London tried to oversee an orderly transition of their colonies from administrative units within an empire into sovereign states in an international order.
This transition saw three different competing worldviews, two of which were much more successful than the third. Socialists and traditionalists (or conservatives) both argued that colonies should be independent, sovereign states to be placed on equal footing in the international arena with the likes of France and the U.K. The arguments of these two worldviews largely won out, and when it came time to actually govern as sovereign entities, the blood started to flow.
Please, read the rest.
Nightcap
- #ThemToo: Earlier women’s crusades Kay Hymowitz, City Journal
- Bitcoin after 10 years Larry White, Alt-M
- How to understand Salafism in America Bruce Clark, Erasmus
- Tigris and Euphrates Rhys Griffith, History Today
Nightcap
- A libertarian case for postmodernism Candice Holdsworth, Spiked
- South Sudan and wealthy LA enclaves have same vaccination rate Olga Khazan, the Atlantic
- The rise of Turkey’s new ultranationalism Burak Kadercan, War on the Rocks
- Past Masters of the Postmodern Simon Blackburn, Inference
Nightcap
- A defence of echo chambers Chris Dillow, Stumbling & Mumbling
- Try being a single woman in Nigeria Olutimehin Adegbeye, Africa is a Country
- A short history of silk and commerce Evelyn Welch, History Today
- Take these jobs and shove ’em Matt Mazewski, Commonweal
Nightcap
- Watching a country make a fool of itself (Brexit) Jan Fleischhauer, der Spiegel
- Disarticulation goes north Branko Milanovic, globalinequality
- The Bosnians who speak medieval Spanish Susanna Zaraysky, BBC
- A depressing take on inequality Vincent Geloso, NOL
RCH: Grenada and the polarization of democratic society
I’ve been so busy enjoying Jacques’ series on immigration that I almost forgot to link to my latest over at RealClearHistory. A slice:
Grenada is a small island in the Caribbean about 100 miles to the north of Venezuela. The island gained its independence from the United Kingdom in 1974 and held elections that year. In 1979, communists violently overthrew the democratically elected government of Grenada and installed a dictatorship. By 1983, infighting between communist factions produced yet another coup, and the leader of the first coup was murdered and replaced by a more hardline Marxist faction (the New Joint Endeavor for Welfare, Education, and Liberation, or New JEWEL, movement). Pleas from democrats inside Grenada were heard by Reagan and he ordered the invasion of Grenada, which was bolstered by troops from most of Grenada’s neighbors. Today, Oct. 25 is celebrated in Grenada as Thanksgiving Day, in honor of the United States coming to the defense of Grenada’s fledgling democracy.
Please, read the rest.
Nightcap
- Pagans against the Old Testament Pieter van der Horst, Aeon
- Isn’t every crime a hate crime? Charles Moore, Spectator
- How nation-states secure freedom Samuel Gregg, Law & Liberty
- Consent versus obedience: law and legitimacy Irfan Khawaja, Policy of Truth
Nightcap
- From the pussy hat to the liberty cap Marion Coutts, 1843
- Sweet waters grown salty Nathan Stone, Not Even Past
- A case for learning to read 17th century Dutch Julie van den Hout, JHIblog
- A danse macabre in Kermaria (Brittany) Kenan Malik, Pandaemonium
Nightcap
- There’s a long history of “grievance studies” in the US Chris Calton, Mises Wire
- The gap in preferences between men and women Alex Tabarrok, Marginal Revolution
- Asians are crazy and rich, but also generous Parag Khanna, Ozy
- Why it’s time to end factory farming Jacy Reese, Quillette
Nightcap
- When houses of prayer become places of shelter Bruce Clark, Erasmus
- Race, or the last colonial struggle in Latin America Jason McGraw, Age of Revolutions
- Free Trade, Unconditional and Unilateral Don Boudreaux, Cafe Hayek
- Remembering Peter Schramm Ken Masugi, Law & Liberty
RCH: The Crimean War was the 19th century’s most important
That’s what I argue in my weekend column for RealClearHistory, anyway. Here’s a peep:
5. Russia’s alienation from Europe, culturally. Russia had long been the odd man out in European affairs. Was Russia European? Asiatic? Russian? For most Russians, the Crimean War answered this question, as Christian Europe sided with Muslim Turks against it in a war Russia lost decisively. Russian efforts at integrating culturally with Europe began under Peter the Great in the 17th and 18th centuries, largely ended officially, though, of course, informally ideas still spread throughout the empire.
Please, read the rest.
Nightcap
- Are China’s provincial boundaries misaligned? Pei Zhi Chia, Science Trends
- How costly would a no deal Brexit really be? Aarti Shankar, CapX
- Why a Nexit would be good for the Netherlands Chhay Lin Lim, NOL
- Where the West went wrong Shikha Dalmia, the Week
Nightcap
- U.S. environmentalism is a success story Patrick Allitt, Liberty Forum
- Don’t blame Karl Marx for “Cultural Marxism” Brian Doherty, Reason
- Texas and the white-washing of the American Revolution Michael Oberg, Age of Revolutions
- How would we recognize an alien if we saw one? Samuel Levin, Aeon
Nightcap
- Isolated in Africa, Chinese workers get religion en masse Yuan & Huang, Global Times
- Explaining Hazony’s nationalism Arnold Kling, askblog
- A prison journalist doing work — from the inside Daniel Gross, Literary Hub
- Character-based voting and the policy of truth Irfan Khawaja, Policy of Truth
Notes On Liberty 