Hoover Institution, Stanford University’s Post

From starvation as a weapon of war to repaying Haiti for independence ‘reparations’, here are this week’s top picks in imperial and global history. https://lnkd.in/e48yq_6b with The Imperial & Global Forum. 

As Russia is weaponizing history to justify its invasion, Western academia has an important role to play in exposing the falsehoods of Moscow’s historical narrative. Last week, I had the pleasure of attending a conference, “Old wars, new stories” here at Princeton University, where participants reflected on the present state of Ukrainian history and on what lies ahead for their field. Read more in my latest for #UkraineAlert ⤵️ https://lnkd.in/e3cSQtgK

How the British Invented Communism (And Blamed It on the Jews), published in May 2024. https://lnkd.in/e2SfjDXU. Here in this TV interview, Richard Poe talked about his book, including the fascinating accounts of Alexander Parvus and Basil Zaharoff (or Zakharov), starting from 1:03:52, both of whom Mr. Poe claimed to be British agents. But Parvus is historically known as the errand boy of the Bolshevik Revolution, who knew Lenin and Trotsky personally. Poe also claimed that Trotsky was a British spy. Well, the only way to get to the bottom of these historical mysteries is to ask the British to open their secret archives after the arrival of the new regime, in which geopolitics will be a relic of the old regime. I will be very itching to produce movies or TV series about Parvus, a Russian Jew, a German spy and millionaire, a British spy, a Russian communist revolutionary, and a political errand boy for Lenin. I find the obscured European history of ideological development from the 18th to the 20th centuries to be a trove of information for the unearthing of the Political Accounting Accrual Relationship (PAAR) during that period, starting from the Napoleonic Wars, including the conspiracies, machinations, spies, subversive ideologies, assassinations, revolutions, wars, Churchill, Parvus, Zaharoff, and the Rothschilds. By the way, terrorism originated in Europe during that period. Archival archeology is to be a major area of historical studies in the new liberal arts education.

Some reflections on history and politics.

Anti-Imperialist Modernism: Race and Transnational Radical Culture from the Great Depression to the Cold War - OA PDF: https://lnkd.in/gHwvPkxG Anti-Imperialist Modernism excavates how U.S. cross-border, multi-ethnic anti-imperialist movements at mid-century shaped what we understand as cultural modernism and the historical period of the Great Depression. The book demonstrates how U.S. multiethnic cultural movements, located in political parties, small journals, labor unions, and struggles for racial liberation, helped construct a common sense of international solidarity that critiqued ideas of nationalism and essentialized racial identity. The book thus moves beyond accounts that have tended to view the pre-war “Popular Front” through tropes of national belonging or an abandonment of the cosmopolitanism of previous decades. Impressive archival research brings to light the ways in which a transnational vision of modernism and modernity was fashioned through anti-colonial networks of North/South solidarity. Chapters examine farmworker photographers in California’s central valley, a Nez Perce intellectual traveling to the Soviet Union, imaginations of the Haitian Revolution, the memory of the U.S.–Mexico War, and U.S. radical writers traveling to Cuba. The last chapter examines how the Cold War foreclosed these movements within a nationalist framework, when activists and intellectuals had to suppress the transnational nature of their movements, often rewriting the cultural past to conform to a patriotic narrative of national belonging. #Modernism #ColdWar #PopularFront #Race #AntiImperialism #TransnationalRadicalCulture #Cosmopolitanism #antifascism #nationalism #MultiethnicCulturalMovements

"By studying Polish-Ukrainian history, we can reassess a normatively positive notion of an empire that, in this part of the world, has been considered the opposite of “managing the difference.” A history of Russian/Soviet and German/Nazi policies in Eastern Europe was far from acknowledging ethnic diversity. Polish and Ukrainian arguments about their region’s present and past should be treated seriously, not just as mere “voices” but as equal members of the discussion about European history and memory." Please find my take on Polish-Ukrainian history and what can it teach us about post-imperial division of Europe for Viadrina Center of Polish and Ukrainian Studies (VCPU) https://lnkd.in/dgziJpZV

A HISTORY OF THE SELF-CONTRADICTORY NATIONALISM OF THE U.S.  - PDF: https://lnkd.in/gryHJ8PR This paper constructs a genealogy of American nationalism that follows major historical events and periods, from the genesis of nationalism since the country’s early state-building to the War on Terror in response to September 11th attacks in 2001. It argues that as an overarching, singular and generic term, American nationalism is paradoxical since it is a configuration of contradictory forces striving for equality and supremacy, unity and division. By organizing the discussion chronologically, the paper emphasizes how nationalism has been shaped by historical contexts. Through a critical, extensive review of relevant historiographies and scholarly research, it identifies contradictory forces that have emerged and persisted in the history of American nationalism, including civic-political nationalism and various forms of ethnic nationalism. The lens of self-contradictory nationalism contributes to nuanced understanding of American nationalism as a discourse for power struggle, meaning, and identity.

'History under fire: the uses and abuses of historical evidence in conflict situations: the case of Ukraine' - now open for registration! What professional and ethical standards should guide historians when interacting with government? Is it legitimate to put historic scholarship at the disposal of the powerful in the hope of achieving some greater good? How can historians most effectively communicate with policy makers, and how can they seek to ensure that their message is not distorted for reasons of political expediency? For answers to these and related questions, register below to join an online discussion at 14:00 BST on 13 May, led by four distinguished scholars who have taken a close interest in #Ukraine’s response to #Russia’s full-scale invasion: - Margaret MacMillan, Emeritus Professor of #History at the University of Toronto and of International History at the University of Oxford, whose many publications include 'The Uses and Abuses of History' (2008) - Serhii Plokhy, Professor of Ukrainian History at Harvard University, whose books include 'The Last Empire: The Final Days of the Soviet Union' (2014), 'The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine (2015)' and 'The Russo-Ukrainian War: The Return of History (2023)' - Allyson Edwards, Lecturer in Global Histories at Bath Spa University and specialist on Russia, cultural militarisation, patriotic education systems in the former Soviet Union, use of history and memory, and commemoration - Christopher Finlay, Professor in Political Theory at the Durham University, a specialist on the ethics of violence and armed conflict, whose books include 'Terrorism and the Right to Resist' (2015) and 'Is Just War Possible?' (2018). Philip Murphy, Professor of British and Commonwealth History at the University of London and director of History & Policy, will chair this panel, which is one of the side-events at this year's Universities Policy Engagement Network (UPEN) annual conference. Registration: https://lnkd.in/eYW7SnHt Faculty of History, University of Oxford

To our colleagues and friends in the Caucasus who cannot speak up, but whose stories should be heard. - Dedication from book Narratives of collective memory on the one hand, and processes of statebuilding, mobilisation and radicalisation in Chechnya since the collapse of the Soviet Union on the other. The title highlights “self- determination”, “participation” and “control” as three important and contrasting functions that collective memories have taken on: “self- determination” points to memory as a tool to legitimise the claim for autonomy and independence, and “participation” to the historically substantiated request for a political voice and equal rights for Chechens in the 1980s and 1990s, whereas “control” alludes to the use of historical narratives – by the Kremlin and its authoritarian henchmen in Grozny – to restore Russia’s territorial integrity and enforce the power of the state over the Chechen population in the 2000s. The subtitle refers to the political context of conflict and statebuilding in which the memory narratives were used over the past three and a half decades in Chechnya. The interplay between historical memory and political processes and events thus forms the tense backdrop against which the various contributions to this volume have been made. T he time frame chosen is the period from the onset of civic mobilisation during Perestroika (1986) until the reinforced authoritarianism and repression of civil society and the militarisation in the run- up to the Russian-Ukrainian war (2022). The demand for decolonisation and self- determination in the late 1980s and the 1990s went hand in hand with the reshaping of collective memory and a massive rewriting of narratives of the past in the (former) Soviet periphery. This process of socio-cultural emancipation gradually led to more radical claims for political inclusion and participation in decision- making processes in Chechnya, culminating in the “Chechen Revolution”, which sought complete independence for Grozny from the Soviet system and its Russian heirs in autumn 1991. Beyond nationalist mobilisation, historical memory increasingly became an instrument of statebuilding and control, in the 1990s under Djokhar Dudayev, but especially under father and son Akhmad and Ramzan Kadyrov since 2000. In this authoritarian function, the mnemonic narratives selected by the historiographers of the ruling elite mark certain episodes or personalities as “good”, that is, as worthy of public remembrance, whereas large parts of history are labelled “bad” because they contradict the political ideas of the ruling elites and are therefore to be erased from society’s consciousness. Cover image: Celebration of Ramzan Kadyrov’s birthday 2016 440p 2024 Peter Lang Group/University of Bern https://lnkd.in/g8R6W7Je

In my latest piece for Mentors Collective, I explore the critical importance of knowledge and integrity in the preservation of historical truth. As we delve into history, it's crucial to recognise how our narratives are often shaped by those in positions of power. In this article, I discuss the challenging ethical dilemmas historians face and the potential for revisionism. As someone deeply committed to the ethical stewardship of history, I believe in fostering a dialogue that emphasises rigorous scholarship and unbiased interpretations. I invite all my fellow history enthusiasts to read and reflect on these themes. We must champion the cause of truth and integrity together in our historical discourses. Read the full article below. https://lnkd.in/gXmnGgrC #History #EthicsInHistory #HistoricalIntegrity #CriticalThinking #MentorsCollective