Weekly audio essays from leading experts. Read by Leighton Pugh.
…
continue reading
Natan & Silas befassen sich mit Themen von denen sie absolut keine Ahnung haben.
…
continue reading
1
Alina Polyakova on Ukraine and the future of US global leadership
13:03
13:03
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
13:03
If Russia is allowed to walk away with any of its ill-gotten gains in Ukraine, the deterrent power of the United States and the transatlantic alliance will be lost. Read by Helen Lloyd. Image: The flags of the United States and Ukraine flying side by side. Credit: Todd Bannor / Alamy Stock PhotoAf EI Weekly Listen
…
continue reading
1
Philip Zelikow on the study of statecraft
21:13
21:13
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
21:13
The study of statecraft would profit by spending less time on ‘should’ and more time on ‘how’. Read by Helen Lloyd. Image: Woodrow Wilson delivering a Christmas address to soldiers of the A.E.F. Langres, Haute Marne, France, December 1918. Credit: Hum Images / Alamy Stock PhotoAf EI Weekly Listen
…
continue reading
1
Kristin Ven Bruusgaard on the paradox of nuclear strategy
17:01
17:01
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
17:01
The vision of nuclear strategy as a means to prevent war remains a powerful but contested idea in international politics. As global rivalries intensify and nuclear arsenals expand, the risk of conflict seems more pronounced than ever. Read by Helen Lloyd. Image: A photograph of nuclear testing at Pacific Island test sites. Credit: EMU history / Ala…
…
continue reading
1
Benedetta Berti on the past, present and future of the transatlantic alliance
15:57
15:57
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
15:57
Over the last decade, NATO has embarked on a significant process of military and political adaptation to ensure it can effectively enable the collective defence of allies in a competitive, contested and unpredictable world. Read by Helen Lloyd. Image: NATO flag waving in the wind. Credit: Zoonar GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo…
…
continue reading
1
Fredrik Logevall on JFK's abiding legacy
17:23
17:23
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
17:23
Through his visionary leadership, inspired rhetoric, and willingness to compromise, John F. Kennedy summoned the narrative of American hope, his most powerful and enduring legacy. Read by Helen Lloyd. Image: Senator John F. Kennedy at Hyannis Port. Credit: Phillip Harrington / Alamy Stock PhotoAf EI Weekly Listen
…
continue reading
1
Kentaro Fujimoto on Japan's global future
21:07
21:07
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
21:07
Like it or not, Japan has become one of the most critical actors in contemporary international politics. Read by Helen Lloyd. Image: A naval exercise conducted by Japan. Credit: World History Archive / Alamy Stock PhotoAf EI Weekly Listen
…
continue reading
1
Daisy Dunn on the pursuit of greatness
18:02
18:02
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
18:02
Foundation myths based on the lives of heroic figures are often used by leaders to affirm their own authority — but they can also inspire wider society. Read by Helen Lloyd. Image: Statue showing the mythological origins of Roman society. Credit: LatitudeStock / Alamy Stock PhotoAf EI Weekly Listen
…
continue reading
The US must adopt a grand strategy of democratic expansion. Only then can global security be established. Read by Helen Lloyd. Image: American Second World War-era poster. Credit: Mouseion Archives / Alamy Stock PhotoAf EI Weekly Listen
…
continue reading
1
Sergey Radchenko on the past, present and future of Sino-Russian relations
22:47
22:47
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
22:47
The tumultuous relationship between Red China and the Soviet Union hints at an uncertain future for the Sino-Russian partnership. Read by Helen Lloyd. Image: Sino-Soviet propaganda poster. Credit: Album / Alamy Stock PhotoAf EI Weekly Listen
…
continue reading
1
Munira Mirza on how the British elite lost its way
19:32
19:32
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
19:32
Stagnation at home and turmoil abroad demand a radical rethink of how – and why – Britain forges its future leaders. Read by Helen Lloyd. Image: The Treasury building in Whitehall, London. Credit: mauritius images GmbH / Alamy Stock PhotoAf EI Weekly Listen
…
continue reading
1
Ali Ansari on the secret to Cyrus the Great’s success
18:51
18:51
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
18:51
Few ancient monarchs have enjoyed such a consistent positive reputation as Cyrus the Great. Perhaps it’s time to become reacquainted. Read by Helen Lloyd. Image: The Tomb of Cyrus, Iran. Photograph taken in 1898. Credit: Penta Springs Limited / Alamy Stock PhotoAf EI Weekly Listen
…
continue reading
1
EI Weekly Listen — Lucy Ward on the invention of Catherine the Great
18:12
18:12
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
18:12
Catherine II’s inoculation against smallpox was an extraordinary act of political self-creation. Read by Helen Lloyd. Image: A portrait of Catherine the Great (1729-1796) by Alexey Antropov. Credit: Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy Stock PhotoAf EI Weekly Listen
…
continue reading
1
Alexander Lee on why Machiavelli wrote The Prince
21:23
21:23
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
21:23
If we want to understand the ‘meaning’ of The Prince, we should start with Machiavelli himself. Read by Helen Lloyd. Image: A statue of Niccolo Machiavelli in Florence, Italy. Credit: Goran Bogicevic / Alamy Stock PhotoAf EI Weekly Listen
…
continue reading
1
Francis J. Gavin on the terrible dilemmas of leadership in a thermonuclear world
16:06
16:06
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
16:06
Nuclear weapons are likely to be around for a long time to come – and the predicaments they create for world leaders are unlikely to be easily solved. Read by Helen Lloyd. Image: President John F. Kennedy with Robert McNamara during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Credit: RBM Vintage Images / Alamy Stock Photo…
…
continue reading
1
James Marriott on why human art matters in the age of AI
15:08
15:08
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
15:08
A world of machine art would be an eerie one. Art connects us to one another. We cannot, and we should not, replace that connection with an uncanny simulacrum of it. Read by Helen Lloyd. Image: The Tribuna of the Uffizi by John Zoffany. Credit: PAINTING / Alamy Stock PhotoAf EI Weekly Listen
…
continue reading
1
Katja Hoyer on East Germany's battle for technology
19:54
19:54
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
19:54
East Germany’s quest to catch up with the technological innovations of the West prompted some remarkable successes, but also expanded the oppression of its mass surveillance apparatus. Read by Helen Lloyd. Image: The Trabant car being manufactured at the East German Sachsenring car plant. Credit: Classic Picture Library / Alamy Stock Photo…
…
continue reading
1
Gudrun Persson on Russia’s forever war against Ukraine
21:36
21:36
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
21:36
An often-overlooked fact about the current Russo-Ukrainian War is that over the centuries Russia has waged several wars to try to conquer Crimea and the Donbas area. Read by Helen Lloyd. Image: Ukrania quae et Terra Cosaccorum cum vicinis Walachiae, Moldoviae, by Johann Baptiste Homann (1664–1724), 1720. Credit: history_docu_photo / Alamy Stock Pho…
…
continue reading
1
Iskander Rehman on early modern information overload
22:53
22:53
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
22:53
The sense of being overwhelmed and constantly distracted is nothing new. Historians and policymakers should look to the 17th century for guidance on how to grapple with information overload. Read by Helen Lloyd. Image: Rembrandt's 'Portrait of a Scholar', 1631. Credit: PRISMA ARCHIVO / Alamy Stock Photo…
…
continue reading
1
Julian Jackson on De Gaulle’s world in motion
17:52
17:52
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
17:52
Part statesman, part prophet, Charles de Gaulle knew instinctively that political success and failure are inevitably interlinked, and that history would be the ultimate judge of both. Read by Helen Lloyd. Image: The President of France Charles de Gaulle marches through the streets under the Arc de Triomphe in 1944. Credit: ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy …
…
continue reading
1
Josef Joffe on Germany, the engine that couldn't
23:19
23:19
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
23:19
Celebrated as predestined shepherd in the glory days of Angela Merkel, Germany in the 2020s is an uncertain giant who has defied expectations, good or bad. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: The top of the Reichstag Building. Credit: Artur Bogacki / Alamy Stock PhotoAf EI Weekly Listen
…
continue reading
1
Maurizio Viroli on how we can learn from history
18:29
18:29
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
18:29
We cannot afford not to rediscover the fine art, nowadays almost forgotten, of learning from history. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: 16th Century engraving by Theodoor Galle, titled The Printing of Books. Credit: The Granger Collection / Alamy Stock PhotoAf EI Weekly Listen
…
continue reading
1
Philip Bobbitt on the decay and renewal of the US constitutional order
34:00
34:00
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
34:00
A new constitutional order is coming. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: The Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. Credit: Lane Erickson / Alamy Stock PhotoAf EI Weekly Listen
…
continue reading
1
Lars Trägårdh on the origins of Swedish democracy
34:50
34:50
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
34:50
‘Democracy’ is in Sweden built on a basis fundamentally different from the one associated with the development of liberal democracy in the West. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Midsummer Dance by Swedish artist Anders Zorn (1860-1920) painted in 1897. A classic of Swedish art history showing traditional folk dancing in the Dalarna countryside in the …
…
continue reading
1
Josef Joffe on the future of the European Union
17:51
17:51
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
17:51
What is the future of the European Union? The EU is sui generis. It certainly cannot be a nation state. Nor is it destined to turn into a Staatsnation or willed nation. Then what? Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: European Union flags. Credit: Brian Lawrence / Alamy Stock PhotoAf EI Weekly Listen
…
continue reading
1
Simon Mayall on the history of the modern Middle East
22:58
22:58
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
22:58
The current violence and turmoil in the Middle East is expressive of a conflict between rival ideas, between the modern nation state and an old, historical concept of an Islamic caliphate. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Abdel Nasser at a rally after the rupture of relations with Syria. Credit: colaimages / Alamy Stock Photo…
…
continue reading
1
Lawrence James on the invention of jingoism
33:43
33:43
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
33:43
Jingoism was a natural offshoot of late Victorian imperialism. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Poster for a British imperial railway company. Credit: Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy Stock PhotoAf EI Weekly Listen
…
continue reading
1
Steven Grosby on the persistence of nationhood
22:15
22:15
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
22:15
What is a nation, what is its significance, and to what problems of life is its persistence a response? Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Lucas Cranach's The Crossing of the Red Sea, 1530. Credit: Heritage Image Partnership Ltd / Alamy Stock PhotoAf EI Weekly Listen
…
continue reading
The biggest division in modern society is between the meritocracy and the people, the cognitive elite and the masses, the exam-passers and the exam-flunkers. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Caricature of a Cambridge University library in the Georgian era. Credit: Thomas Rowlandson / Alamy Stock PhotoAf EI Weekly Listen
…
continue reading
1
Mariano Sigman on how language has shaped human consciousness
13:30
13:30
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
13:30
How did our ancestors think? Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: A play is performed in an ancient Greek theatre. Credit: Classic Image / Alamy Stock PhotoAf EI Weekly Listen
…
continue reading
1
Nathan Shachar on ideology in science
20:04
20:04
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
20:04
There is no linear, moral progress in knowledge and science. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Triple-microscope made by the optician Camille Sebastien Nachet in Paris. Credit: gameover / Alamy Stock PhotoAf EI Weekly Listen
…
continue reading
1
Gregory Feifer on the mirage of Russian power
16:30
16:30
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
16:30
The mistake many Western countries make is to take Russia largely at face value. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Nesting Russian dolls showing former leaders. Credit: Mr Standfast / Alamy Stock PhotoAf EI Weekly Listen
…
continue reading
1
Peter Heather on empire and development in first millennium Europe
36:35
36:35
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
36:35
The story of first millennium Europe is one of remarkable economic change and demographic upheaval; a precocious analogue to the modern era of globalisation. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Charlemagne. Credit: The Picture Art Collection / Alamy Stock PhotoAf EI Weekly Listen
…
continue reading
1
Barry Strauss on Ancient Greek geopolitics
27:31
27:31
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
27:31
The Greeks invented the notion of the interrelationship of geography and politics; indeed, they elaborated it in myriad ways. Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/duality-determinism-and-demography-the-greeks-on-geopolitics/ Image: The Athenian fleet. Credit: INTERFOTO \ Alamy Stock Photo…
…
continue reading
1
Josef Joffe on the end of 'the end of history'
28:12
28:12
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
28:12
We equated a brief respite from history with the dawn of a new age. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Fall of the Berlin Wall. Credit: Agencja Fotograficzna Caro / Alamy Stock PhotoAf EI Weekly Listen
…
continue reading
1
Michael Broers on how Napoleon built a continent
34:33
34:33
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
34:33
Napoleonic geopolitics didn't make much impression on Europe's maps, but its influence was wide-ranging. Read by Leighton Pugh. Napoleonic Europe: how the Emperor built a continent | Michael Broers Image: Napoleon crossing the Alps by Jacques-Louis David. Credit: GL Archive / Alamy Stock PhotoAf EI Weekly Listen
…
continue reading
In the 1860s, commentators might have been justified in forecasting 'the end of history' and lauding universal progress. History was to return with a vengeance. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: A lifeboat rescuing passengers from the ship Alarm in the 1860s. Credit: North Wind Picture Archives / Alamy Stock Photo…
…
continue reading
1
David Frum on how empire-states are changing the game
16:44
16:44
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
16:44
From the Engelsberg Ideas Archive. States are back and they're out to challenge the international order. Image: Vladimir Putin captured from screen. Credit: Anton Dos Ventos / Alamy Stock PhotoAf EI Weekly Listen
…
continue reading
1
EI Weekly Listen — Elisabeth Kendall on Jihadist poetry as propaganda
21:25
21:25
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
21:25
Al-Qaeda's success in Yemen can in part be explained by the group's adept use of poetry as propaganda. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: An al-Qaeda logo is seen on a street sign in the town of Jaar in southern Abyan province, Yemen. Credit: Associated Press / Alamy Stock PhotoAf EI Weekly Listen
…
continue reading
1
EI Weekly Listen — Malise Ruthven on the appeal of ISIS
33:53
33:53
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
33:53
From the Engelsberg Ideas Archive. The organisation that emerged under the name ISIS is not simply a terrorist group. It is a hybrid organisation comprised of a proto-state, a millenarian cult capable of attracting recruits from far beyond its borders, a network of Salafi jihadist groups, an organised criminal ring and an insurgent army led by high…
…
continue reading
1
EI Weekly Listen — Andrew Preston on the invention of American national security
24:54
24:54
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
24:54
By the time Kennedy and Johnson held the presidency in the 1960s, the definition of US national security had been stretched and expanded in previously unimaginable ways. It was not unusual for Americans to perceive their security frontiers as global – indeed, it was considered natural. But it hadn’t always been thus. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: P…
…
continue reading
1
EI Weekly Listen — Kimberly Kagan on the United States and the new way of war
19:53
19:53
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
19:53
The United States, still the dominant military power in the world, is immersed in a new era of warfare that it has not yet recognised as endemic and enduring. America is losing its wars to less powerful but more adaptable adversaries, while preparing inadequately for future inter-state conflicts. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Posters of slain Irani…
…
continue reading
1
EI Weekly Listen — Pascal Vennesson on the rise of transnational war-making
33:00
33:00
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
33:00
Political success for the global insurgents can arise not only from a military victory on the ground, but from a military stalemate and even a military defeat. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Mock Houthi-made drones and missiles are set up in a city square in Yemen. Credit: Zuma Press / Alamy Stock Photo…
…
continue reading
1
EI Weekly Listen — Rolf Ekéus on how to end wars
19:57
19:57
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
19:57
There is only one way out of total destruction and collapse, which is creative diplomacy. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Dutch envoy Cornelis Calkoen received by the Ottoman grand vizier. Credit: World History Archive / Alamy Stock PhotoAf EI Weekly Listen
…
continue reading
1
EI Weekly Listen — Philip Bobbitt on the new global disorder
20:01
20:01
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
20:01
We cannot understand what is going wrong in the international order without first understanding what is going wrong in the constitutional order of states. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: The Statue of Liberty seen through a broken window on Ellis Island. Credit: Associated Press / Alamy Stock PhotoAf EI Weekly Listen
…
continue reading
1
EI Weekly Listen — Yu Jie on the deep historical roots of China's global ambition
24:32
24:32
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
24:32
China projects its power and secures its national interests in three ways: exercising might, spending money and expressing its own mindset. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: CCP propaganda printed in rice fields. Credit: Fabio Nodari / Alamy Stock PhotoAf EI Weekly Listen
…
continue reading
1
EI Weekly Listen — Andrew Monaghan on how the past shapes Russian grand strategy
22:53
22:53
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
22:53
Putin uses history not only to fit a narrative that Russia is strong when it stands together, but also to seek legitimacy. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Russian Second World War propaganda poster. Credit: Shawshots / Alamy Stock PhotoAf EI Weekly Listen
…
continue reading
1
EI Weekly Listen — Pär Stenbäck on religion and politics in the Middle East
18:41
18:41
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
18:41
Religion is often ignored as a political factor; in the Middle East, this is not possible. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Supporters of the pro-Iranian Lebanese Hezbollah group wave the party flags in front of a poster of late Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini during a ceremony in Beirut. Credit: dpa picture alliance / Alamy Stock Photo…
…
continue reading
1
EI Weekly Listen — Wolfgang Palaver on the complex relationship between violence and religion
48:12
48:12
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
48:12
Wherever we insist on truth in order to win over our adversaries, we awaken a spirit of violence that endangers our living-together in the world. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: The Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre by Francois Dubois. Credit: Niday Picture Library / Alamy Stock PhotoAf EI Weekly Listen
…
continue reading
1
EI Weekly Listen — Gary Lachman on the sources of mystical experience
41:41
41:41
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
41:41
Mystical experience is the missing link in modern accounts of how human beings came to be conscious. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Trasverberazione di Santa Teresa d’Avila (1640). Credit: jozef sedmak / Alamy Stock PhotoAf EI Weekly Listen
…
continue reading
1
EI Weekly Listen — Armin W. Geertz on the pre-historical roots of religious belief
46:22
46:22
Afspil senere
Afspil senere
Lister
Like
Liked
46:22
The history and evolution of (proto) religious behaviour is ancient. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Print of early humans making fire. Credit: Science History Images / Alamy Stock PhotoAf EI Weekly Listen
…
continue reading