How US policy failure post-9/11 undermined international order by Emma Sky
The US once enjoyed the esteemed position of being the 'city on the hill', a beacon of hope and an example to the rest of the world. Post-9/11, however, the superpower's conduct in the Middle East has left its reputation tarnished. Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/how-us-policy-failure-post-9-11-undermined-international-order/  Credit: James May/Alamy
20m Feb 11, 2022
20m
Uruk and the origins of the sacred economy by Daniel T. Potts
Peering into the hearts and minds those living four thousand years ago is an impossible task. However, when it comes to the worship of the Mesopotamian goddess Inanna, it seems clear to be, quite literally, a labour of love and fear. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/uruk-and-the-origins-of-the-sacred-economy/ Credit: Print Collector via Getty Images
23m Feb 04, 2022
23m
Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy revisited by Niall Ferguson
While at one point in time the idea that socialist economies would ultimately prevail over capitalism was quite a widespread view the fate of socialist states over the past hundred years have demonstrated that they enjoy only two possible paths: authoritarianism or anarchy. Credit: Shotshop GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo
43m Jan 28, 2022
43m
Cool war by Noah Feldman
While the US remains the sole reigning super power, the rise of China adds complexity to the current world order. Geostrategic conflict is inevitable, but mutual economic interdependence can help manage that conflict and keep it from spiralling out of control.  Credit: Christian Ohde / Alamy Stock Photo
34m Jan 21, 2022
34m
Russia and geopolitics by Anna-Lena Laurén
As the largest country in the world, Russia's might past and present has an inherent link to its geopolitics. But since the decline of the Soviet Union, Moscow's eyes are constantly straying beyond the national borders. In Russia, expansion is often regarded as a means of self-defence. Credit: Tommy E Trenchard / Alamy Stock Photo
16m Jan 14, 2022
16m
Fantasy in Middle Eastern nation-making by Nathan Shachar
There is frequently no real reason why one person has more claim to live or even rule over a piece of land than another. A reason, however must be provided and it is often be found in a fantastical interpretation of history. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/fantasy-in-middle-eastern-nation-making/ Credit: Adobe Stock
20m Jan 05, 2022
20m
You are not as clever as you think by Mark Pagel
Why do humans accumulate ideas, knowledge and technologies while other animals are seemingly stick doing the same thing over and over never getting better? Rather than being a question of raw intelligence, it is in fact largely down to luck, trial and error and copying others. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/you-are-not-as-clever-as-you-think/ Credit: Buyenlarge/Getty Images
21m Dec 23, 2021
21m
Adrian Wooldridge on the return of religion
Voltaire predicted that religion would be defunct in fifty year's time. Karl Marx called it the opium of the masses and Nietzsche declared that God is dead. Adrian Wooldridge is now saying that He is back. From the rise of Islamic extremism to American evangelism, the twenty-first century is seeing a religious renaissance.
36m Dec 17, 2021
36m
Martina Winkelhofer-Thyri on whether Austria is a nation, state or an empire
Studying the evolution of Austria in the 20th century offers deep insight into essential Western political categories. Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/austria-nation-state-or-empire/ Credit: Adobe Stock
15m Oct 08, 2021
15m
Tom Holland on Æthelstan and the forging of a United Kingdom of England
The story of how, over the course of three generations, the royal dynasty of Wessex went from near oblivion to fashioning a kingdom that still endures today is the most remarkable and momentous in the island's history. Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/aethelstan-the-king-who-forged-a-united-kingdom-of-england/ Credit: Public domain
20m Oct 01, 2021
20m
Maurizio Viroli on the virtues of the city-state
The early modern Italian republics are often portrayed as models of bad government. But the fusion of civic humanism and Christianity they championed endures to this day. Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/in-defence-of-the-city-state/ Credit: Alinari Archives/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images
22m Sep 24, 2021
22m
Robin Lane Fox on nationalism in the classical world
Nationalism is often thought of as a modern development - but its traces can be found in antiquity. Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/did-nationalism-exist-in-the-classical-world/ Credit: Wiki Creative Commons
27m Sep 17, 2021
27m
Hew Strachan on the cost of the 1918-19 pandemic
The influenza pandemic behaved much like the conflict itself - picking out the young and fit before their time. Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/counting-the-cost-of-the-1918-19-pandemic/ Credit: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
22m Sep 03, 2021
22m
Alexander Lee on Machiavelli and civil strife
Niccolo Machiavelli, Renaissance statesman and political theorist, saw factional politics as essential to the prosperity of the Roman Empire and his native Florence. Are today's partisan divisions as beneficial? Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/machiavelli-and-the-benefits-of-civil-strife/ Credit: Icom Images / Alamy Stock Photo
21m Aug 20, 2021
21m
Adrian Wooldridge on why the West needs Plato more than ever
The Victorians saw Plato's Republic as an indispensable guide to reform of the public sphere - we should follow their lead. Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/leadership-in-crisis-why-the-west-needs-plato-more-than-ever/ Credit: Sepia Times/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
19m Aug 20, 2021
19m
Richard Whatmore on why revolutions are a disaster
Karl Marx was wrong about revolutions - in practice, they beget Caesars and Napoleons. Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/history-shows-revolutions-are-a-disaster/ Credit: Andrew Maclear/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
22m Aug 13, 2021
22m
36: Andrew Graham-Dixon on crisis and great art
Social upheaval has often been a catalyst for artistic change - the Renaissance was no exception. Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/crisis-and-the-creation-of-great-art/ Credit: Mauro Magliani for Alinari/Alinari Archives, Florence/Alinari via Getty Images
20m Jul 29, 2021
20m
35: Tom Holland on the empty metropolis
Empty city London had its harbingers in literature and history. How will it emerge from its isolation? Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/pandemics-and-the-metropolis-city-lockdown-london/ Credit: 1000 Words / Shuttersotck
21m Jul 28, 2021
21m
34: Donald Sassoon on a world of nations and states
Despite globalisation, the nation state retains its privileged position in world politics. Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/a-world-of-nations-and-states-is-here-to-stay/ Credit: AMA/Corbis via Getty Images
20m Jul 22, 2021
20m
33: Jonathan Fenby on China's great uncoupling
Beijing wants to foster a world where Chinese standards replace those of the post-1945 US-led system. Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/chinese-china-the-great-uncoupling/ Credit: Feng Li/Getty Images
22m Jul 09, 2021
22m
31: David Seedhouse: Covid-19 and the moral case for personal judgement
The tension between independence and compliance is everywhere in society – but in medicine, reason must come before rules. Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/covid-19-and-the-moral-case-for-personal-judgement/ Credit: DeAgostini/Getty Images
25m Jun 25, 2021
25m
30: Matthew Goodwin: Meet the Zoomer generation
This period of turbulence could turn today's twenty-somethings into the leaders of a new liberal revolution. Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/meet-the-zoomer-generation/ Credit: Jack Taylor/Getty Images
23m Jun 18, 2021
23m
29: Tim Marshall: New Turkey's old politics
As a result of President Erdogan's embrace of two interlinked geopolitical concepts, 'Strategic Depth' and 'Blue Homeland', Turkey faces international isolation. Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/new-turkeys-old-politics/ Credit: Kerem Uzel/Bloomberg via Getty Images
21m Jun 09, 2021
21m
28: Graham Stewart on Thatcher's rescue from historical cliché
To argue that Margaret Thatcher attacked the post-war dream is to caricature, not illuminate, her importance to British history. Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/continuity-thatcher-rescuing-a-complex-leader-from-historical-cliche/ Credit: John Downing/Getty Images
27m Jun 03, 2021
27m
27: Mark Honigsbaum: Challenging the 'Great Reset' theory of pandemics
Thucydides saw plague as an opportunity to improve the health of society. But history shows that pandemics have a way of disrupting medical and social progress. Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/challenging-the-great-reset-theory-of-pandemics Credit: Bettmann
24m May 28, 2021
24m
25: Clive Aslet: The changing fate of the English country house
Amid the tumult of the 1970s, it appeared the traditional country house had gone into irreversible decline - but it was too early to write it off. Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/upstairs-downstairs-demolished-the-changing-fate-of-the-english-country-house/ Credit: The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images
19m May 20, 2021
19m
23: Helen Thompson: Geopolitics of a pandemic
The Covid-19 crisis has accentuated all the geopolitical fault lines of the past decade. Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/geopolitics-pandemic-geopolitical-conflict/ Credit: Adobe Stock
22m May 06, 2021
22m
21: Philip Bobbitt: A government of laws
The constitutional order is changing as citizens become alienated and demand more say. Americans must take care that their habits of law are not swept away. Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/a-government-of-laws/ Credit: REUTERS (https://www.alamy.com/search/imageresults.aspx?cid=FTPYQLA93JH396SCAUER2MUB3WH5CZBCX4MM8D8SQUBNT7CPAXV2DRGQHPR56JBD&name=REUTERS&st=12&mode=0...
14m Apr 29, 2021
14m
20: Vanessa Harding: Remembering London's last Great Plague
London's response to its last plague epidemic involved close collaboration between crown, City and parish. Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/living-with-the-great-plague-of-1665/ Credit: Culture Club / Getty Images
22m Apr 22, 2021
22m
19: Johan Hakelius: John Hughes and the making and unmaking of the American Dream
The films of John Hughes updated the American Dream for a new generation, and his complex legacy helps us understand what went so wrong. Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/john-hughes-and-the-making-and-unmaking-of-the-american-dream/ Credit: CBS via Getty Images
15m Apr 13, 2021
15m
18: Iskander Rehman: Why applied history matters
Forget the seduction of grand theories and presentist moral judgments. To learn the lessons of the past, the great foreign policy analysts of our age must rediscover the art of historical discernment. Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-case-for-applied-history/ Credit: BLM Collection (https://www.alamy.com/search/imageresults.aspx?pseudoid=%7b243F1107-A998-48DE-A245...
48m Apr 08, 2021
48m
16: Gillian Clark: Survival lessons from Ancient Rome
The Romans have so much to teach us about what it means to live in a society in crisis. Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/survival-lessons-from-ancient-rome/ Credit: Thomas Cole / Public domain
23m Mar 26, 2021
23m
15: Peter Frankopan: This crisis has the capacity to be apocalyptic
Covid-19 heralds the end of our interconnected world. We'll need wise leaders to navigate what comes next. Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/this-crisis-has-the-capacity-to-be-apocalyptic/ Credit: Getty Images
21m Mar 19, 2021
21m
12: Can America lead again?
Iain Martin with guests Sir Nigel Sheinwald, Professor Joseph Nye, Karin von Hippel and Tom McTague on the foreign policy change facing the Biden administration
53m Jan 22, 2021
53m
11: GCHQ – John Ferris on the official history
Mattias Hessérus is in conversation with John Ferris, the historian 'behind the enigma' of Britain's signals intelligence agency.
38m Dec 19, 2020
38m
10: MI9 – Helen Fry on wartime escape
Mattias Hessérus is in conversation with Helen Fry on the ingenious exploits of MI9 – the secret service for escape and evasion.
36m Dec 15, 2020
36m
9: David Omand on what it takes to think like a secret agent
Mattias Hessérus is in conversation with David Omand, former director of GCHQ, on how we can all learn to think like a spy.
45m Dec 14, 2020
45m
8: Fredrik Logevall on JFK
Over 40,000 books have been written on JFK since his assassination, yet none have succeeded in getting behind the myth of Camelot. Join Mattias Hessérus in discussion with Fredrik Logevall on the making of the man who enchanted America.
49m Dec 04, 2020
49m
7: Covid and reform: can the West fix its governing systems?
Iain Martin with guests Adrian Wooldridge and Vernon Bogdanor discusses the covid crisis and the long-term impact that it might have on the development of the West.
46m Nov 13, 2020
46m
6: Alexander Lee on Machiavelli
In this episode of History Lessons, Mattias Hesserus is joined by Alexander Lee to discuss Machiavelli’s life and works. Was he always an adept politician?  Was he as immoral as is often claimed?
50m Sep 28, 2020
50m
5: Asian Philosophies of Rebirth with Jessica Frazier
In this episode of History Lessons, Mattias Hesserus and Jessica Frazier are in conversation about the differences between Eastern and Western philosophies of crisis. Is the desire for a return to ’normal’ inherently western? What can we learn from narratives of rebirth? And, was the global lockdown a mass-participation yogic experiment?
37m Sep 11, 2020
37m
4: Can the West be revived?
How did the West land in, what we might politely call, a 'sub-optimal' condition? And is a revival of the West feasible? To discuss these questions Iain Martin is joined by Peter Frankopan and David Frum. This is an Engeslberg Ideas podcast.
49m Jul 23, 2020
49m
3: Leadership in a Crisis with Andrew Roberts
On this episode of History Lessons, Mattias Hessérus is joined by the historian and author Andrew Roberts to look through the careers of great figures like Napoleon Bonaparte, Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher (as well as some of history's great villains, Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin) and see how they handled the pressure of a crisis. History Lessons is an Engelsberg Ideas podcast. Ho...
27m Jul 10, 2020
27m
2: The History of Quarantine with Lincoln Paine
On this episode of History Lessons, Mattias Hessérus speaks to the maritime historian Lincoln Paine, author of The Sea and Civilization, about the history of quarantine, how pandemics have affected trade and travel in the past, and whether globalisation can survive the current moment. Hosted by Mattias Hessérus. With Lincoln Paine. Produced by Nick Hilton for Podot.
26m Jul 01, 2020
26m
Art, History and Pandemics with Tom Holland
On this, the first episode of History Lessons, Mattias Hessérus speaks to the historian Tom Holland about the relationship between reality and art in the age of a pandemic. Hosted by Mattias Hessérus. With Tom Holland. Produced by Nick Hilton for Podot.
35m Jun 17, 2020
35m