Links to Recent Articles of Interest
“Trump Was ‘Shocked’ That Iranians Fought Back. He Shouldn’t Have Been”
By Stephen Kinzer, Boston Globe, posted September 16
“This war has shown the world more than tragedy. It is also a reminder that 25 centuries of Iranian history have forged a remarkably tenacious nation.” The author is a veteran journalist and author of several books on US foreign policy. He is a Senior Fellow of the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University.
“For Trump, Jews Are Proving to Be a Very Useful Tool”
By James Loeffler, New York Times, posted September 16
How civil rights law has been turned on its head, becoming “a political protection racket, a tool with which to attack higher education and other perceived enemies.” The author teaches Modern Jewish History at Johns Hopkins University. His most recent book is Exceptional Hatred: Antisemitism and the Fight Over Free Speech in Modern America (Metropolitan Books, 2026).
“Have the US, Israel and Saudis Lost the Battle of the Narrows?”
By Juan Cole, Informed Comment, posted September 13
Evokes the earlier history of international trade and choke points in the Middle East. “Just as Venice and the Ottomans outflanked Portugal in the battle of the narrows in the mid-1550s, so Iran and its allies in Yemen and Iraq are outflanking the US and its regional allies.” The author teaches Middle East history at the University of Michigan.
“George W. Bush’s Impunity Led to Trump’s Lawlessness”
By Kenneth Roth, The Guardian, posted September 11
“If George W. Bush’s abusive response to the September 11 attacks had been prosecuted rather than swept under the rug, Donald Trump would be less able to pursue his lawless policies. We can’t rewind history, but we can learn from our historic failure.” The author is an attorney and human rights activist who was executive director of Human Rights Watch from 1993 to 2022.
“Why Lonnie Bunch Is Leaving the Smithsonian”
By Kelsey Ables and Jaynelle Kingsberry, Reader Supported News, posted September 10 (from The Atlantic)
On the resignation under pressure of distinguished historian Lonnie Bunch as head of the Smithsonian Institution. “In Bunch, the Smithsonian had at its helm an advocate for its continued independence…. His departure has increased anxieties about the institution;’s future.” The authors are journalists who are currently staff writers at The Atlantic.
By Emily Lucille Hurt, History News Network, posted September 9
Likens the minting of an official commemorative coin honoring Donald Trump to the abandonment of the ancient Roman policy that no living person could be depicted on a coin, symbolic of the Roman Republic’s replacement by the Roman Empire. The author teaches Classical Studies at John Cabot University in Rome.
“25 Years After 9/11, How Do We Build a Movement to Stop Endless Wars?”
Interview with Jeremy Varon by Mark Engler, Waging Nonviolence, posted September 9
Analyzes the antiwar movement that arose to resist the Bush administration’s violent response to the 9/11 attacks and particularly its 2003 invasion of Iraq. “Of course, the end of the war came too late to spare untold death and destruction. But the antiwar movement at least limited the damage, and that’s a real achievement.” Jeremy Varon teaches history at the New School for Social Research and Eugene Lang College. His latest book is “Our Grief Is Not a Cry for War”: The Movement to Stop the War on Terror (U. of Chicago Press, 2025).
“The United States’ Major Wars and Direct Military Interventions Since 1945”
By Eric Toussaint, Counterpunch, posted September 8
A detailed compendium of multiple categories of US intervention: direct warfare, regime change; support for authoritarian regimes; proxy wars, covert operations, and military bases. Examples abound in each category. The author is an independent historian and political scientist with a PhD from the Universities of Paris VIII and Liege.
“‘It Leaves Holes Inside of You’: Graphic Novel Aims to Remember the History and Horror of Genocide”
By David Smith, The Guardian, posted September 6
A review essay on The Book of Gencides, a graphic novel by the artist Dana Mashoian Walrath (Harvard U. Press, September 8, 2026). “In the tradition of Art Spiegelman’s Maus and Joe Sacco’s Palestine, The Book of Genocides uses the graphic form to bridge the gap between abstract history and raw empathy.” The reviewer is the Washington bureau chief of The Guardian.
“It’s Possible to Salvage Canadian-American Friendship – and Much More”
By Lawrence S. Wittner, Z, posted September 1
Gives some historical background on US-Canadian relations and their disruption by Trump policies. “Indeed, the current situation is all too reminiscent of how deranged and power-mad national rulers wrecked the international order in the past.” Argues for “a shift toward a world order more strongly grounded in international law.” The author is a professor emeritus of history at SUNY Albany.
“What It Took to Dismantle the Most Powerful Company in the World”
By William Dalrymple, New York Times, posted August 28
On the fall in the late eighteenth century of the East India Company, “the most powerful corporation in history until now.” (“For in the last decade, Big Tech has, too, begun to take on the attributes of sovereign states, and in many ways is now as.powerful as the East India Company at its height.”) The author has written several books on Indian history, including The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company (Bloomsbury Publishing, U.K., 2019)
“The 1915 TNR Debate That Predicted the Ills of the Billionaire Class”
By David Conrad-Perez, The New Republic, posted August 28
“An unpublished exchange between New Republic editor Walter Lippman n and financier Jacob Schiff wrestles with the consequences of extreme wealth – a question we are still struggling with today.” The author is a historian and research director at the Center for Media & Social Impact at American University. His book Fire in the Heart of the City: The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and the Origins of Modern Charity has just been published by NYU Press.
“Immanuel Wallerstein Predicted the Fall of the US Empire”
By Gregory P. Williams, Jacobin, posted August 20
On the background and ongoing pertinence of a 2002 essay by the sociologist and economic historian Immanuel Wallerstein entitled “The Eagle Has Crash Landed,” on the decline of US hegemony. The author teaches political science and international relations at Simmons University and wrote Contesting the Global Order: The Radical Political Economy of Perry Anderson and Immanuel Wallerstein (SUNY Press, 2020).
Thanks to Rusti Eisenberg and an anonymous reader for suggesting articles included in the above list, and to Roger Peace for valuable consulting. Suggestions can be sent to jimobrien48@gmail.com.