List of History articles
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A black and white print overlaid with a red star shows Russian Tsar Peter the Great holding up a glass in a toast after beheading one of the Streltsy rebels in front of his nobles. A headless figure rests on the ground and other people surround the tsar with lifted glasses. Putin’s Fear of Strong Generals Is as Old as Russia Itself
Prigozhin’s rise and fall is the latest example of what happens when a ruler in Moscow fears the power of military underlings.
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Soldiers from the U.S. Army’s 331st Infantry Regiment take cover from German fire near the village of Périers in Normandy, France, in July 1944. Stop Comparing Ukraine to World War I
Normandy in 1944 is a much better historical analogy—and it counsels patience.
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Summer-2023-Book-Reviews-3 Foreign Policy’s Summer Reading List
Our columnists and reporters’ top picks, from a 16th-century treatise to a ’90s fantasy novel.
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A black-and-white photograph shows former Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, a middle-aged man wearing a white, collarless shirt. He is holding a pen and smiling as he looks off to the side. The Great Fight Over India’s Myths
Modi’s party is intent on demonizing Nehru, the country’s first prime minister. A new book adds nuance to the debate.
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A demonstrator waves an Egyptian flag on a rooftop overlooking Cairo’s Tahrir Square. Lessons for the Next Arab Spring
Ten years after Egypt’s coup, Washington has yet to learn that authoritarian stability is an illusion.
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Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg sits with Indigenous Sámi activists during a protest against the Fosen Vind energy project in Oslo on March 2. Norwegians Get a Bitter Taste of Their Own History
A new report paints a damning picture of Oslo’s treatment of Indigenous people. But it may lack the teeth to effect lasting change.
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Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi adjusts his tie and grimaces during a news conference at the Chigi Palace in Rome on May 26, 2010. Behind him a painting shows a woman's outreached arm. The Scandalous Life and Career of Silvio Berlusconi
The former Italian leader loved topless women and Vladimir Putin but hated being compared to Donald Trump.
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US President Jimmy Carter and General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Leonid Brezhnev sign the SALT II treaty. Is There Really a Cold War 2.0?
Inside the debate on how to think about the U.S.-China rivalry.
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Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger cleans his glasses while preparing to testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Solving the Mystery of Henry Kissinger’s Reputation
The former secretary of state is a genius—just not at what you might think.
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A large screen in a hearing room shows side-by-side images of a Chinese frigate and a U.S. Navy combat ship under the words "China's New Frigate Design Looks Awfully Familiar" Why the U.S.-China ‘Cold War’ Framing Is So Dangerous
A Cold War crouch is inimical to a free, open, and flourishing society.
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A man wheels his bicycle along a railroad track in Hiroshima. Around him is the rubble of trees and buildings destroyed by the atomic bomb. The Bomb Was Horrifying. The Alternatives Would Have Been Worse.
Historical records show that dropping atomic bombs was the least bad option.
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nonalignment-george-wylesol-illustration-site Is Nonalignment Such a Big Deal?
Here’s what neutrality means in the 21st century.
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A row of statues of German political thinker Karl Marx. Gen Z Has Finally Found Its Karl Marx
The German philosopher’s “Grundrisse” is an indispensable guide to our current chaos—from AI to the rise of China.
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An undated pencil drawing depicts work on a sugar plantation in the West Indies. Black children are among the laborers working to chop sugar cane under the watchful eye of a suited white overseer wearing a hat. Sugar as Modern Capitalism’s Original Sin
A new book shows its history as anything but sweet.
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Sunbathers under umbrellas line the beach with sailboats dotting the sea behind them in Cannes, France, on Sept. 1, 1948. How the French Riviera Got Its Glitz
Long before the Cannes Film Festival, a new book shows, the Côte d’Azur built a brand on flaunting affluence.
