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A PROGRESSIVE HISTORIAN Last week in a discussion of Charles Austin Beard, "isolationist" Progressive historian, I mentioned Beard’s influence on a number of younger scholars, among them William Appleman Williams and Murray N. Rothbard. Williams emerged in the late 1950s as the spearhead of New Left diplomatic history and has had an enduring influence on … Continue reading “William Appleman Williams: Premier New Left Revisionist”

It is Veterans Day today, which brings up the question of how to honor veterans of America’s various wars responsibly and honorably. I submit that the most sincere honor is paid by resolving not to allow our political leaders to get us involved in wars in which servicepeople are asked to give their lives in … Continue reading “HONORING VETERANS HONORABLY”

A PROGRESSIVE HISTORIAN Charles A. Beard (1874-1948) was a central figure in the American historical profession in the first half of this century. Born into a substantial Midwestern family in Indiana, he studied at Spiceland Academy, a Quaker institution. He spent 1898-1902 at Oxford University. He returned to the United States and by 1904 had … Continue reading “Charles Austin Beard: The Historian as American Nationalist”

Last week Agence-France Presse, the French news agency, reported that U.S. and British air strikes killed two civilians and injured seven in an air strike on what an Iraqi spokesman said were civilian facilities in northern Iraq. The US military said the strikes had hit military targets as a response to anti-aircraft fire. The week … Continue reading “IRAQ MILITARY BUILDUP”

As noted in a previous column, Southerners have gotten a reputation for belligerence at home and abroad. To combat this unfortunate generalization, I continue my survey of Southerners who have been critics – to some degree or another – of interventionist foreign policy and empire. Tom Watson, whose views on the Spanish-American War and the … Continue reading “Southern Critics of Intervention: Part III”

The slaying of 8 prominent politicians in Armenia on 27th October including the prime minister, Vazgen Sarkisian, and speaker of the parliament, Karen Demirchian, took the Western media completely by surprise. Experts seemed to be thin on the ground – CNN provided a young lady from the Economist Intelligence Unit who squirmed in discomfort when … Continue reading “Some Thoughts on the Killings in Armenia – Who did it and Why?”

As Cato Institute foreign policy analyst Ted Carpenter told me, "It is pleasantly surprising to see evidence of some stirring of conscience, some desire to have something resembling the truth finally come out, on the part of people both in the State Department and at the New York Times.” Even if the Times story, in … Continue reading “Sudan Second Thoughts”

POST NO BELLUMS The Confederate States of America did not last long enough as a going concern to produce a tradition in foreign affairs. The main issue facing the Confederates was self-defense against Mr. Lincoln’s armies. This left little time for debates about intervening or not intervening in other country’s affairs or supporting other secessionist … Continue reading “Southern Critics of Intervention: Part II”

OLD TIMES THERE ARE NOT FORGOTTEN With due care, it is possible to rent a film set in the American South which is not given over to bewailing endless Evil and Corruption of the sort that logically requires permanent occupation by the Army of the Potomac. These days, it’s not just high-minded leftists or former … Continue reading “Southern Critics of Intervention: Part I”

A news story that broke late yesterday makes it clearer than ever that the U.S. government plans to use the drug war as the pretext to intervene in the Colombian civil war on a massive scale. Exultant press conferences were held in Washington and Bogota to announce the arrest in Colombia of 30 drug trafficking … Continue reading “Colombian Sting”