Theodore Roosevelt

The Threat Behind Trump’s Praise of McKinley & Roosevelt

The president says he wants to be peacemaker—but his heroes were warmongers.
A view of an Inuit town in Greenland surrounded by snowy hills.

Greenland: Polar Politics

Though it may seem like a new topic of concern, the glaciated landscape of Greenland has floated in and out of American politics for decades.
Thomas Brackett Reed.

America First’s Forgotten Founder

There are better models for President Trump than William McKinley. 
Canadian and American flags.
partner

Using Tariffs to Try to Annex Canada Backfired in the 1890s

Instead of compelling Canada to become an American state, the 1890 McKinley Tariff drove Canada into British hands.
Drawings of King George III and George Washington.

Parallel Lives

King George and George Washington, featured in an upcoming exhibit.
An illustration of space, with two silhouettes of heads overlapping.

The Fraught U.S.-Soviet Search for Alien Life

During the Cold War, American and Soviet scientists embarked on an unprecedented quest to contact extraterrestrials.
A flour sack with a girl feeding ducks with "Nassogne, 1915" and "Merci, L'Amerique" or "Thank you, America" embroidered on it.

The Beginnings of USAID Can Be Traced to a Famine in Belgium

Trump is freezing the United States’ foreign aid agency, which grew from our relief efforts over the world’s wars and crises.
Poofs of smoke in the sky.

An “Iron Dome for America”: A History Repeating Itself

How America’s search for total security keeps making the world more dangerous.
Jimmy Carter and General Omar Torrijos shake hands after signing the Panama Canal Treaty in 1977

The Panama Canal Treaty Declassified

Kissinger warned: “This is no issue to face the world on. It looks like pure colonialism.”
Justin Trudeau and Donald Trump.

The Beaver and the Eagle: A 200-Year-Old Argument

The left case for an independent Canada.
Painting of horsemen in the Caucus mountains.

The Reckless Creation of Whiteness

How an erroneous 18th-century story about the “Caucasian race” led to a centuries of prejudice and misapprehension.

The Political Force Behind Zionism

A new book traces the rise of the Israel lobby and the challenges it has faced as global criticism of Israel has intensified.

How the U.S. Gamed the Law of the Sea

It made itself bigger.
Trump's airplane in Greenland.
partner

Why Trump Wants Greenland—And Why He Probably Won't Get It

He's not the first to set his sights on the island.
Ronald Reagan

Revisiting the Panama Canal Debate of 1978

The uproar over Trump’s remarks about the Canal recalls a lively debate from the late 1970s.
Donald Trump half-obscured by the American flag.

Emperor Trump’s New Map

The president who built his fan base on isolationism is pivoting to a kind of imperialism that the U.S. hasn’t seen in decades.
Workers with shovels constructing the Panama Canal.
partner

Trump’s Talk of the Panama Canal Taps Into Old Myths About U.S. Power

By threatening to reclaim the Panama Canal, Trump is evoking false stories about U.S. beneficence.
Demonstrators in 1977 hold signs protesting a treaty returning control of the Panama Canal to Panama.
partner

The Panama Canal Could Help Unify Trump's Fractious Movement

In the 1970s, a conservative coalition came together to fight ceding control of the Panama Canal—proving the political potency of the issue.
Trump holding an American flag crowded with extra stars.

What the History of American Expansion Can Tell Us About Trump’s Threats

A historian of U.S. empire discusses nuclear Greenland, selling Puerto Rico, and the renaissance of William McKinley.
French Jesuits mapped the Gulf of Mexico, “Golphe da Mexique” in 1672 in an expedition lead by Father Jacques Marquette.

The Gulf of Mexico’s Long History of Colonization and Varying Names

Long before Trump expressed interest in a name change, conquerors have battled to claim the wealth of its rich waters.
Noam Chomsky illustration by Joe Ciardiello.

The Worlds of Noam Chomsky

If ordinary Americans know one critic of the American Empire, it’s almost certainly Chomsky.
A drawing of a Viking ship approaching Greenland.

The Long Struggle for Greenland

Throughout its history, the vast Arctic island has been viewed by competing powers as a strategic prize and geopolitical asset.
Collage of Jimmy Carter reading documents, and excerpts of documents he notated.

Jimmy Carter: A Declassified Obituary

Highest-level national security documents reveal a tough-minded, detail-oriented president.
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter address children at a Ghana hospital in 2007.

How Jimmy Carter's Global Health Efforts Elevated 'The Art Of The Possible'

Former President Jimmy Carter, who died Sunday at age 100, gave visibility to devastating health problems that are often invisible.
Donald Trump wearing a MAGA hat.

The Panama Question

Trump’s canal comments resurrect a forgotten American interest.
Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter Was the True Change Agent of the Cold War

There’s a reason the 39th president is still revered by former Soviet dissidents.
The American flag and the South Korean flag.

Eighty Years of Martial Law

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s declaration of martial law is of little import compared to the American occupation of the country.
Image of classified documents and Russia and US leaders shaking hands.

A Newly Declassified Memo Sheds Light on America’s Post-Cold War Mistakes

This remarkably prescient document holds several lessons about how to run foreign policy.
President George W. Bush delivering the first State of the Union speech after the 9/11 attacks.

The Legacy of the ‘Axis of Evil’

One speech permanently influenced American diplomacy—and not for the better.
The COVID virus as the desert sun.

How Covid Shaped Climate Policy

Five years from the emergence of the disease, the world — and the climate — is still grappling with its effects.