Book Discussion: They Called It Peace by Lauren Benton
Throughout history imperial conquests and colonizations depended on pervasive raiding, slaving, and plunder. European empires amassed global power by asserting a right to use unilateral force at their discretion. Lauren Benton’s They Called It Peace (Princeton University Press, 2024) is a panoramic history of how these routines of violence remapped the contours of empire … Continue reading “Book Discussion: They Called It Peace by Lauren Benton”
Book Discussion: Human Capital by Laura Robson
Human Capital is a story of how global humanitarianism has turned refugees into cheap labor. Laura Robson reveals the dark heart of our purportedly humanitarian international regime. Tracing the century-long history of attempts to remake refugees into disposable migrant labor, she elucidates global humanitarianism’s deep-seated commitment to refugee exploitation and containment. … Continue reading “Book Discussion: Human Capital by Laura Robson”
Book Discussion: Genocide, the Holocaust and Israel-Palestine by Omer Bartov
Omer Bartov’s Genocide, the Holocaust and Israel-Palestine discusses some of the most current debates over the study, commemoration and politicization of the Holocaust through key crucial perspectives. Bartov analyzes the tensions between Holocaust and genocide studies, which have repeatedly enriched and clashed with each other. He persuasively argues for the significance of personal testimony … Continue reading “Book Discussion: Genocide, the Holocaust and Israel-Palestine by Omer Bartov”
Book Discussion: Seven Crashes by Harold James
The eminent economic historian Harold James presents a new history of financial crises, showing how some led to greater globalization while others kept nations apart. Seven Crashes (Yale University Press, 2023) presents a new perspective on financial crises, dividing them into “good” crises, which ultimately expand markets and globalization, and “bad” crises, … Continue reading “Book Discussion: Seven Crashes by Harold James”
Book Discussion: Liberalism Against Itself by Samuel Moyn
The Cold War roots of liberalism’s present crisis. By the middle of the twentieth century, many liberals looked inquisitively at the world modernity had brought about, with its devastating wars, rising totalitarian power and permanent nuclear terror. They believed that, far from offering a solution to these problems, the ideals of the Enlightenment, … Continue reading “Book Discussion: Liberalism Against Itself by Samuel Moyn”
Book Discussion: G-Man by Beverly Gage
Beverly Gage’s new major biography of J. Edgar Hoover draws from classified sources to create a groundbreaking portrait of a colossus who dominated half a century of American history and planted the seeds for much of today’s conservative political landscape. Now known as one of the greatest behemoths of the 20th century, … Continue reading “Book Discussion: G-Man by Beverly Gage”
Book Discussion: The Cambridge World History of Genocide by Ben Kiernan (General Editor)
The Cambridge World History of Genocide is a comprehensive and world history of genocides. The three-volume series offers an in-depth analysis and anatomy of genocides. Edited by Ben Kiernan and contributed by leading international experts in the field from various disciplines, scholars take a multi-disciplinary approach to the phenomenon of genocide. Thematic and empirical … Continue reading “Book Discussion: The Cambridge World History of Genocide by Ben Kiernan (General Editor)”
Book Discussion: The Project-State and Its Rivals by Charles S. Maier
A new and original history of the forces that shaped the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. We assumed we knew the story of the twentieth century. After the two world wars and the long cold war, the judgement was clear for many in the West: democratic values had won out against autocracy. However, … Continue reading “Book Discussion: The Project-State and Its Rivals by Charles S. Maier”
Book Discussion: The Russo-Ukrainian War by Serhii Plokhy
The world was surprised by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 despite numerous warnings from the White House. Why did Putin start the war and why has it unfolded in previously unimaginable ways? Ukraine has resisted a superior military, the West has come together and Russia is becoming more and more isolated. … Continue reading “Book Discussion: The Russo-Ukrainian War by Serhii Plokhy”
Remembering the Armenian Genocide: A Conversation between Peter Balakian and Jay Winter
The Armenian Genocide, occurring from 1915 to 1923, was a tragic chapter in history marked by the Ottoman Empire’s extermination of over a million Armenians through mass deportations, forced labor, and killings. In observance of the 100th anniversary of the Treaty of Lausanne, a pivotal juncture marred by its omission of justice and provision … Continue reading “Remembering the Armenian Genocide: A Conversation between Peter Balakian and Jay Winter”
Book Discussion: The Last Treaty by Michelle Tusan
Michelle Tusan in her new book The Last Treaty (Cambridge University Press, 2023), profoundly reshapes the story of how the First World War ended in the Middle East. Tracing Europe’s war with the Ottoman Empire through to the signing of Lausanne, which finally ended the war in 1923, she places the decisive Allied victory … Continue reading “Book Discussion: The Last Treaty by Michelle Tusan”
Book Discussion: Homelands by Timothy Garton Ash
Drawing on half a century of firsthand experience and exemplary scholarship, Timothy Garton Ash’s Homelands tells the story of postwar Europe’s victories and tragedies. Known as Europe’s “historian of the present,” Garton Ash has invested his career in understanding the intricacies of Europe’s past and present. Homelands provides an insightful journey through … Continue reading “Book Discussion: Homelands by Timothy Garton Ash”
Remembering the Treaty of Lausanne: A Century of Legacy and Lessons Learned
The Treaty of Lausanne, signed on July 24, 1923, marked the end of World War I and ushered in a new era of peace in Europe. The century’s last treaty demonstrated the negotiation of importance and compromise in resolving conflicts and achieving lasting peace. However, this “peace” came at a cost of several injustices … Continue reading “Remembering the Treaty of Lausanne: A Century of Legacy and Lessons Learned”
Book Discussion: When Democracy Died by Hans-Lukas Kieser
In July 1923, the Treaty of Lausanne signed in Switzerland officially ended the conflict between the Ottoman Empire and the Allied Forces. The Treaty established the borders of the modern Turkish republic and at the same time, it also defined boundaries, political systems, and understandings of citizenship in the newly formed post-Ottoman nation-states. Here … Continue reading “Book Discussion: When Democracy Died by Hans-Lukas Kieser”
Ukraine’s New Art: Addressing War and Decolonization
In this CGC lecture, Svitlana Biedarieva would analyse Ukraine’s new art during the Russian invasion of the country. Addressing the war and decolonization, Biedarieva would demonstrate how art has transformed into a weapon of resistance for Ukrainian artists against Russian imperialism. This session would showcase different artistic documentation of war, anti-colonial resistance and … Continue reading “Ukraine’s New Art: Addressing War and Decolonization”
Book Discussion: Fire and Rain by Carolyn Woods Eisenberg
Carolyn Woods Eisenberg in her new book Fire and Rain, provides an interweave of Nixon and Kissinger’s pursuit of the war in Southeast Asia and their diplomacy with the Soviet Union and China with on-the-ground military events and US domestic reactions to the war conducted in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Fire and … Continue reading “Book Discussion: Fire and Rain by Carolyn Woods Eisenberg”
Book Discussion: Mourning the Presidents by Lindsay M. Chervinsky and Matthew R. Costello
The death of a chief executive, regardless of the circumstances—sudden or expected, still in office or decades later—is always a moment of reckoning and reflection. In Lindsay M. Chervinsky and Matthew R. Costello edited Mourning the Presidents, renowned and emerging scholars examine how different generations and communities of Americans have eulogized and remembered US … Continue reading “Book Discussion: Mourning the Presidents by Lindsay M. Chervinsky and Matthew R. Costello”
The War in Ukraine: How Can We Understand Evil In a Postmodern World?
Analysing through multiple filters of history and philosophy, Marci Shore would discuss the foundations of ‘evil’ in the contemporary world. By examining the war in Ukraine, Shore would highlight the lessons that the war teaches us on identifying evil in a Postmodern world. Please join Marci Shore and our other panellists in a … Continue reading “The War in Ukraine: How Can We Understand Evil In a Postmodern World?”
Belarus: War, Society and Foreign Relations
From the rigged 2020 presidential election, mass protests, increased repression and violent suppression of civil society to Russian ally in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Belarus continues to attract global attention from human rights observers and international communities. During the 2014 Maidan Revolution and Russo-Ukrainian conflict, Belarus maintained a neutral stance and portrayed itself … Continue reading “Belarus: War, Society and Foreign Relations”
Book Discussion: Confronting Saddam Hussein by Melvyn P. Leffler
Melvyn P. Leffler in his new book Confronting Saddam Hussein, provides a major new interpretation of George W. Bush’s intervention in Iraq. Often contemplated as the most important foreign policy choice of America and nearly two decades after the event, it still remains central to understanding current international politics and US foreign relations. Leffler … Continue reading “Book Discussion: Confronting Saddam Hussein by Melvyn P. Leffler”
Book Discussion: International History by Akira Iriye and Petra Goedde
Akira Iriye and Petra Goedde in their new book International History: A Cultural Approach, present an innovative history of modern international relations that stresses cultural themes. In place of the usual focus on great-power rivalries, diplomatic negotiations, military conflict, and other phenomena in which sovereign nations are the key players, this book focuses on intercultural … Continue reading “Book Discussion: International History by Akira Iriye and Petra Goedde”
War in Ukraine: The Question of Genocide
Seventy years ago, the UN Genocide Convention was born with a promise ‘never again’ to ensure that no one in the world faces genocides and horrors of Nazi Holocaust ever again. But history has never been kind. With new atrocities, the promise is never fulfilled, the question of genocide has risen time and again. … Continue reading “War in Ukraine: The Question of Genocide”
Book Discussion: The Day The Great War Ended by Jay Winter
On 24 July 1923 the last Treaty ending hostilities in the Great War was signed at Lausanne in Switzerland. That Treaty closed a decade of violence that continued long after the Armistice of 11 November 1918, extending from the Baltic to the Mediterranean. On the shores of Lake Geneva, diplomats, statesmen and soldiers came … Continue reading “Book Discussion: The Day The Great War Ended by Jay Winter”
Understanding Holocaust through Literature and Fiction | Book Discussion: The Butterfly and The Axe by Omer Bartov
Literature is the best ally for history, as there is no single explanation of the past. Historical study cannot do justice to those who vanished without a trace. They need to be brought back so as to make history complete. Straddling history and fiction, Omer Bartov, world’s leading authorities on genocide and one of … Continue reading “Understanding Holocaust through Literature and Fiction | Book Discussion: The Butterfly and The Axe by Omer Bartov”
Book Discussion: The Kennedy Withdrawal by Marc J. Selverstone
In October 1963, the White House publicly proposed the removal of American troops from Vietnam, earning President John F. Kennedy an enduring reputation as a skeptic on the war. In fact, Kennedy was ambivalent about withdrawal and was largely detached from its planning. The withdrawal statement gave JFK political cover, allowing him to sustain … Continue reading “Book Discussion: The Kennedy Withdrawal by Marc J. Selverstone”
Latin America Lecture: Latin America’s New ‘Left Turn’ in Comparative and Historical Perspective
Following the victory of left-wing presidents in Mexico (2018), Argentina (2019), Bolivia (2020), along with Peru, Honduras and Chile (2021) and then Colombia and Brazil (2022), a new wave of pink tide has surged in Latin America. The new pink tide has attracted a great deal of journalistic attention, yet very few analyses have … Continue reading “Latin America Lecture: Latin America’s New ‘Left Turn’ in Comparative and Historical Perspective”
Japanese War Crimes: The Problem of Reckoning and Reconciliation (GISA-INAUGUARL LECTURE)
In 2023, the Council for Global Cooperation in collaboration with the Development Study Club (DSC) launched a joint research program, Genocides in Southeast Asia (GISA). The program aims to work on the cases of genocides and atrocities that are genocidal in nature that have occurred or are still occurring in the region. From the … Continue reading “Japanese War Crimes: The Problem of Reckoning and Reconciliation (GISA-INAUGUARL LECTURE)”
Book Discussion: Overreach by Susan Shirk
For three decades after Mao’s death in 1976, China’s leaders adopted a restrained approach to foreign policy. They determined that any threat to their power, and that of the Chinese Communist Party, came not from abroad but from within. To facilitate the country’s inexorable economic ascendence and to prevent a backlash, the Chinese leaders … Continue reading “Book Discussion: Overreach by Susan Shirk”
Book Discussion: Cold War Radio by Mark Pomar
Mark Pomar in his new book Cold War Radio (University of Nebraska Press, 2022) analyses how the United States waged the Cold War through the international broadcasting of Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Pomar who served in senior positions at VOA and RFE/RL from 1982 to 1993, would discuss … Continue reading “Book Discussion: Cold War Radio by Mark Pomar”
Genocides in 20th and 21st century World
On November 25th, 2022, the CGC conducted its first virtual conference titled “Genocides in 20th and 21st century World’’. The panel was joined by prominent scholars: Ben Kiernan, Omer Bartov and Hannibal Travis, whose authority on genocide and Holocaust studies is widely celebrated. In this session, the speakers discussed the world’s most gruesome genocidal events … Continue reading “Genocides in 20th and 21st century World”