military history

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• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  1/17/2023
  

  Training Ukrainian Troops in the US Part of a Long History of Military Advising as Foreign Policy

  by Syrus Jin

  Training foreign military officers in the US has, since the 1950s, aimed at more than military success. It's been a vehicle for developing foreign political leadership and expanding US influence. 

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• SOURCE: New Statesman
  12/20/2022
  

  Ukrainesplaining, or, Why the West Underestimated Ukraine

  by Olesya Khromeychuk

  The credibility of Ukraine's claims and commitment to national self-determination have always been dismissed and diminished by the influence of Russian perspectives, even among academic observers. A woman historian finds the phenomenon familiar. 

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• 12/18/2022
  

  A Grisly but Significant Discovery at Red Bank Updates the History of the 1777 Philadelphia Campaign

  by Robin Baker

  Local volunteers excavating near the site of Fort Mercer in southern New Jersey discovered new evidence of the participation of Hessian mercenaries in a key battle in the British attempt to seize Philadelphia in 1777.

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• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  12/6/2022
  

  The Conventional Wisdom About War Crimes is Wrong

  by Brian Klaas

  Ideology can be seductive, and doesn't require monstrous people to incite monstrous acts. 

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• SOURCE: War on the Rocks
  12/13/2022
  

  Politicization of the US Military over the Last 4 Decades

  by Kori Schake

  "If America wants to retain a military that recruits from all parts of the citizenry and brings them together into an effective fighting force, it should both correct that public perception and better insulate the military from being a pawn in partisan political disputes."

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• 12/11/2022
  

  Writing My Father Into History

  by Stephen G. Rabe

  As a child, the author developed an interest in history by hearing his father's stories on the journey from parachuting in to Normandy to the Brandenburg Gate and the occupation of Berlin. But he waited until retirement to research and write about them. 

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  12/2/2022
  

  The Passing of the Generation that Remembers the Last World War Makes the Next One More Likely

  by Stephen Wertheim

  The United States faces a growing risk of conflict with other global powers without a strong awareness of how difficult and all-consuming it could be for the military, civilians, and the entire society. 

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• SOURCE: Foreign Policy
  12/2/2022
  

  In Ukraine, "General Frost" Will Fight on Both Sides

  Military commanders in Eastern Europe have long tried to deal with the effects of bitter winter on morale and logistics. How is it likely to affect the Ukrainian counterattack against Russia? 

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  12/3/2022
  

  "Archives Rat" John Prados Punctured Military Secrecy to Write History

  "Running through all his work was the contention that records of intelligence and covert activities represented a sort of historical dark matter: a vast amount of material that, while invisible in conventional narratives, could, if revealed, radically shift our understanding of the past."

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• 11/6/2022
  

  From Torch to Tunis to El Alamein: Events 80 Years Ago Made the Modern Middle East

  by Robert Satloff

  80 years ago Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa, opened a second front against Nazi Germany. Today, it has proven equally important for establishing models for America's relationship to the Middle East. 

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• 11/6/2022
  

  Lindsey Fitzharris on the Pioneering Facial Reconstruction Surgeon Who Remade the Faces of Great War Veterans

  by James Thornton Harris

  As one battlefield nurse wrote home, “the science of healing stood baffled before the science of destroying.” Dr. Harold Gillies let the effort to catch up, arguably the only lasting "victory" of the Great War. 

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• SOURCE: The Guardian
  10/27/2022
  

  Newly Translated Documents Give Fuller Picture of Nuclear Danger During Cuban Missile Crisis

  The National Security Archive has released an English translation of the account of a Soviet submarine officer of events in October 1962 tells the story of how his vessel's commander nearly launched nuclear weapons against US Navy ships enforcing the quarantine of Cuba.  

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• 10/16/2022
  

  Putin's Strategy Echoing Hitler's Mistakes on Eastern Front

  by James Thornton Harris

  Although Vladimir Putin has called the Ukrainian leadership "Nazis" to justify invasion, the longer the Ukraine war drags on the more Putin's strategic errors resemble those made by Hitler on the eastern front.

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  10/11/2022
  

  Bombing Kyiv Into Submission? History Says "Unlikely"

  The utility of bombing civilian centers has been overrated, and the strength of the backlash such bombing creates underestimated, by military strategists. 

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• SOURCE: Washington Post
  10/7/2022
  

  A Missed Opportunity to Honor Black Troops in Base Renaming Process

  Dwight Eisenhower was a visitor to Fort Gordon en route to golf outings at Augusta National. Critics wonder if Ike was the best choice for renaming the base. Military historian Ty Seidule defended the naming process as open and suggested complete consensus was not possible. 

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  10/5/2022
  

  Matthew Delmont Examines How Black Americans Saw the Second World War

  For Black Americans, everything about the second world war looked different, including the start date, which the Black press dated to the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1935. A new book centers the issue of global racism in a narrative of the conflict. 

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• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  9/28/2022
  

  Tucker Carlson and Ted Cruz are Wrong about the Weakness of "Woke" Militaries

  by Phillips Payson O’Brien

  It turns out that hypermasculinity, ruthlesness and reflexive brutality are liabilities in modern warfare. Ukraine is exhibit A. 

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• SOURCE: Washington Post
  9/26/2022
  

  If Putin Says Nuclear Weapons Threat is No Bluff, Believe Him (and Prepare)

  by Joseph Cirincione

  The first use of nuclear weapons is a part of both Russian and American military strategy; the task for the world is to assess the most likely scenario and plan to respond effectively. 

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• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  8/22/2022
  

  The New Army Tactical Brassiere Latest Episode of Military Connections with Fashion

  by Einav Rabinovitch-Fox

  The move to create new undergarments reflects the military's recent efforts to incorporate a more diverse population of servicemembers, as well as a longstanding concern with managing the appearance of women in service. 

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• 7/8/2022
  

  The Wagner Group is Just the Latest Example of Privatized War

  by Lawrence Wittner

  Hiring soldiers of fortune to wage war has long been profitable to mercenaries and politically advantageous to rulers. Its modern resurgence with the American Blackwater organization and the Russian Wagner Group show the need for stronger cooperative security to prevent human rights abuse.