Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts

EI's Alastair Benn sits down with Ian Leslie, author of Conflicted: Why Arguments Are Tearing Us Apart and How They Can Bring Us Together, to discuss how the counterculture went mainstream.

Image: An advert on the Nike store at Oxford Circus. Credit: Matthew Chattle / Alamy Stock Photo 

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 Photo 

Catherine Ostler profiles Maria Antonia, Electress of Saxony, an artistic polymath who helped re-shape elite culture in the Enlightenment age. Read by Sebastian Brown.

Image: An 18th-century portrait of Maria Antonia of Bavaria, Electress of Saxony, by Peter Jacob Horemans. Credit: Heritage Image Partnership Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo 

EI's Angus Reilly discusses how Ronald Reagan put economic openness at the heart of the battle for ideas against Soviet Communism with William Inboden, author of The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan, the Cold War, and the World on the Brink.

Image: Ronald Reagan at the Durenberger Republican convention Rally, 1982. Credit: World History Archive / Alamy Stock Photo 

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

EI's Alastair Benn discusses the condition of Classical music today with Richard Bratby, chief Classical music critic of The Spectator.

Image: Music scores. Credit: Tim Gainey / Alamy Stock Photo 

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 Stock Photo 

EI's Iain Martin is joined by Kwasi Kwarteng, historian and former Chancellor of the Exchequer, to discuss the turbulent life of the 18th-century financial speculator John Law, whose innovative ideas were credited with bringing Ancien Régime France to the brink of ruin. There are echoes of what happened when the Truss government tried its own financial experiment, he acknowledges.

Image: A cartoon of John Law (1671–1729), the Scottish economist who was appointed Controller General of Finances of France under King Louis XV. Credit: PRISMA ARCHIVO / Alamy Stock Photo 

Laura Freeman profiles Helen Sutherland, an isolated, austere, and fastidious heiress who dedicated herself to art. Read by Sebastian Brown.

Image: Woman Playing a Piano, by Winifred Nicholson. Her work was championed by Helen Sutherland. Credit: Paul Quezada-Neiman / Alamy Stock Photo 

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 Photo 

The leading classicist Daisy Dunn joins EI's Paul Lay to discuss her new book, The Missing Thread: A New History of the Ancient World Through the Women Who Shaped It.

Image: Nikolaos Gyzis, a 19th Century painter, depicts Sappho playing the lyre. Credit: Photo 12 / Alamy Stock Photo 

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 Photo 

James Barr profiles the debonair and open-faced diplomat, George McGhee, whose shuttle diplomacy helped accelerate Britain's decline as a player in the Middle East. Read by Sebastian Brown.

Image: President John F. Kennedy (left, in rocking chair) meets the newly-appointed US Ambassador to West Germany, George McGhee. Credit: Gibson Moss / Alamy Stock Photo

A new constitutional order is coming. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image: The Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. Credit: Lane Erickson / Alamy Stock Photo 

Erica Benner applies ancient wisdom to modern problems in her new book Adventures in Democracy: The Turbulent World of People Power. She shares her insights with EI's Deputy Editor, Alastair Benn.

Image: Gathering of the Areopagus, a deliberative court that met in the open air in ancient Athens. Credit: North Wind Picture Archives / Alamy Stock Photo 

‘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 extended summer evening light. Credit: Universal Art Archive / Alamy Stock Photo 

Dominic Sandbrook profiles Jesse Ventura, the former Navy SEAL and WWE champion who won Minnesota’s governorship in 1999 on an anti-elite ticket. His transition from showbiz to politics was a precursor of the age of Trump – but ’the Body’ was no ordinary populist. Read by Sebastian Brown.

Image: Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura yells to the crowd at his People's Inauguration in Minneapolis. Credit: Associated Press / Alamy Stock Photo 

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 Photo 

EI's Paul Lay and Alastair Benn ask: do we really live in an age of upheaval?

Image: Turner's Vesuvius in Eruption. Credit: Artefact / Alamy Stock Photo 

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 

James Hardie on the violinist-composer who mixed the sacred and profane in his fantastical music, a lost genius of the 17th century. Read by Sebastian Brown.

Image: A print of Heinrich Biber. Credit: The Picture Art Collection / Alamy Stock Photo 

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 Photo 

A small but riveting exhibition at London's National Gallery tells the dramatic story of the troubled Renaissance master's 'last' painting.

Image: The Martyrdom of St Ursula, 1610. Credit: incamerastock / Alamy Stock Photo

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 Photo 

Vanessa Harding on the God-fearing diarist Nehemiah Wallington whose personality was far removed from the cosmopolitanism of Samuel Pepys, his fast-living contemporary. Read by Sebastian Brown.

Image: An excerpt from Nehemiah Wallington's diary, dated 1654. Credit: Folger Shakespeare Library. 

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 Photo

Self-interest, imperial competition and new threats in Europe - T.G. Otte examines the complex 120-year long history of the Entente Cordiale with EI's senior editor, Paul Lay.

Image: First prize winner at the Covent Garden fancy dress ball in 1905, a lady dressed in an elaborate costume as the Entente Cordiale. Credit: Chronicle / Alamy Stock Photo 

How did our ancestors think? Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image: A play is performed in an ancient Greek theatre. Credit: Classic Image / Alamy Stock Photo 

Peter Frankopan on the Byzantine princess Anna Komnene who, banished to a convent for her political ambition, devoted her gifts of observation to charting the fortunes of her father's empire – etching her legacy as Europe's first female historian. Read by Sebastian Brown.

Image: Anna Komnene, a Byzantine princess and scholar. Credit: history_docu_photo / Alamy Stock Photo 

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 Photo 

EI's Deputy Editor Alastair Benn speaks to Suzanne Raine, visiting professor in the Department of War Studies at King's College London, about the evolution of the terrorist threat and its long history.

Image: Anarchist outrage at the Liceo theatre in Barcelona, 1893. Credit: Photo 12 / Alamy Stock Photo 

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 Photo 

Gillian Clark on Saint Monica, mother to Augustine of Hippo and lionized by the Latin Church, a women of many names and many more mysteries. Read by Sebastian Brown.

Image: Saint Augustine and his mother, Saint Monica. Credit:: Carlo Bollo / Alamy Stock Photo 

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 Photo  

Daisy Christodoulou punctures the hype around the applications of Large language models (LLMs) and chatbots to the field of learning. Will AI really revolutionise education?

Image: Mechanical brain. Credit: Sibani Das / Alamy Stock Vector 

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

Jenny McCartney on Comte Lanjuinais, who risked his life by defying the Jacobins. Read by Sebastian Brown.

Image: Comte Lanjuinais speaks at a febrile meeting of the National Convention, 1793. Credit: Chronicle / Alamy Stock Photo

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 Photo 

Geoff Andrew, the BFI's programmer-at-large, and film critic Muriel Zagha sit down with EI's Deputy Editor Alastair Benn to discuss the varied, visionary and eccentric creations of the German filmmaker Werner Herzog.

Credits: The audio clips at 0:07 and 4:13 are taken from Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer, directed by Thomas von Steinaecker. The film was released on BFI Player and BFI Blu-ray on 19 February. Courtesy of BFI Distribution.

The audio clip at 53:30 is an excerpt from The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser. It is currently on release in selected cinemas via the BFI. It aired at 27 Picturehouse sites on Friday 1 March. Courtesy of BFI Distribution.

Engelsberg Ideas is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit. Worldview is produced by Alastair Benn and Marie Jessel. The sound engineer is Gareth Jones.

Image: Werner Herzog on the set of Fitzcarraldo, 1982. Credit: Collection Christophel / Alamy Stock Photo 

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 Photo 

Armand D'Angour on Aspasia of Miletus, wife of Pericles and friend to philosophers. Read by Sebastian Brown.

Image: 19th Century lithograph of Aspasia of Miletus. Credit: GRANGER - Historical Picture Archive / Alamy Stock Photo 

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 

Two years on from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a solution, military or diplomatic, seems as far away as ever.

On Worldview, leading historians and commentators reflect on a conflict that has altered the state of global geopolitics.

Jade McGlynn, author of Russia’s War, calls in from Kyiv (00:56).

Shashank Joshi, defence editor of the Economist and Hew Strachan, military historian, illuminate the battlefield picture (24:18). 

The possible outcomes are considered by Sergey Radchenko, expert on Russian foreign policy, and Tim Marshall, best-selling author, whose most recent book is The Future of Geography (1:00:45).

Engelsberg Ideas is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit. Worldview is produced by Alastair Benn and Marie Jessel. The sound engineer is Gareth Jones.

Image: The national flag of Ukraine above the Kyiv skyline. Credit: Mykhailo Prysiazhnyi / Alamy Stock Photo 

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 Photo 

Llewelyn Morgan, author of Horace: A Very Short Introduction, joins EI's Paul Lay to explore the Augustan poet's vast and complex legacy.

Image: Bust of Horace. Credit: Cum Okolo / Alamy Stock Photo 

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 Photo 

Alwyn Turner, author of Little Englanders: Britain in the Edwardian Era, speaks to Paul Lay about the early 20th century, an age of anxiety.

Image: Street musicians in London in the Edwardian era. Credit: KGPA Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo 

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 highly skilled former Baathist military and intelligence personnel. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image: Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant fighters shown in propaganda photos released by the militants. Credit: Handout / Alamy Stock Photo 

Ahron Bregman, author of Cursed Victory: A History of Israel and the Occupied Territories, outlines his vision for a lasting peace between Israel, Palestinians and the Arabs.

Image: An Israeli flag is seen through a dust cloud near the border with the Gaza strip. Credit: Eddie Gerald / Alamy Stock Photo 

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: Poster showing the American flag waving among clouds.  Credit: World History Archive / Alamy Stock Photo 

Daniela Richterova, Senior Lecturer in Intelligence Studies at the Department for War Studies, King's College London, reflects on the efforts the Soviet Union made to court African states and liberation movements during the Cold War and draws parallels with China and Russia's new scramble for Africa.

Image: A monument to Arab-Soviet Friendship at the Aswan dam, Egypt. Credit: Matyas Rehak / Alamy Stock Photo 

Thinking about 'war in our time' and our region is no longer an activity restricted to historians or military planners. Politicians and citizens in the countries bordering the Baltic Sea have been forced to accept that it has become necessary to prepare for an unwelcome guest: war. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image: A naval operation staged as part of the Freezing Winds military exercise, led by the Finnish Navy. Credit: Sipa US / Alamy Stock Photo 

Alastair Benn is joined by Christopher Harding, cultural historian of Japan and author of The Light of Asia: A History of Western Fascination with the East, to discuss the life and work of celebrated animator Mayazaki Hayao, co-founder of Studio Ghibli, and his latest (and last?) film, The Boy and the Heron, a semi-autobiographical exploration of wartime bereavement, courage and ultimate redemption.

Image: A still from The Boy and the Heron directed by Miyazaki Hayao. Credit: BFA / Alamy Stock Photo 

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 Iranian Revolutionary Guard General Qassem Soleimani. Credit: Associated Press / Alamy Stock Photo 

In December 1941, the Japanese military attacked Pearl Harbor, making the Second World War a truly global conflict. Paul Lay is joined by Charlie Laderman to discuss a month that shook the world.

Image: Three US battleships stricken during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941. Credit: GRANGER - Historical Picture Archive / Alamy Stock Photo 

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 

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 Photo 

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 Photo 

What is the deep meaning of 2023? Alastair Benn is joined by Paul Lay and Iain Martin to set a dramatic year in perspective.

Image: A woman lights a candle to express solidarity with Israel. Credit: ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy Stock Photo 

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 Photo 

Paul Lay and Alastair Benn are joined by Matthew Hefler, post-doctoral fellow at the Ax:son Johnson Institute for Statecraft and Diplomacy, to discuss the changing role of intelligence services in an era of intense geopolitical competition.

Image: The MI6 building in Vauxhall, London. Credit: Alex Segre / Alamy Stock Photo 

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 Photo 

What went wrong for the western alliance in Afghanistan? Paul Lay and Alastair Benn are joined by John Ferris, author of Behind the Enigma: The Authorised History of GCHQ, Britain's Secret Cyber-Intelligence Agency, to discuss whether liberal states can still carry out effective counter-insurgency operations.

Image: U.S. Marines search a compound in Afghanistan. Credit: Stocktrek Images, Inc. / Alamy Stock Photo 

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 

Paul Lay and Alastair Benn are joined by Calder Walton, author of Spies: The epic intelligence war between East and West, to discuss how governments can use covertly acquired intelligence as a powerful tool to influence debate — and how easily it can all go wrong.

Image: US Ambassador to the United Nations, Adlai Stevenson, second from right, confronts Soviet delegate Valerian Zorin, first on left, with a display of reconnaissance photographs during an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council at the United Nations headquarters in New York, on October 25, 1962. Credit: Associated Press / Alamy Stock Photo 

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 Photo 

Paul Lay and Alastair Benn are joined by Kate Cooper, author of Queens of a Fallen World, to discuss the women who shaped the life of Augustine of Hippo.

Image: A 17th century painting of Saint Augustine and Saint Monica. Credit: The Picture Art Collection / Alamy Stock Photo 

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 Photo 

Paul Lay, Alastair Benn and Iain Martin discuss the cultural legacy of the Fab Four and why the Beatles story continues to fascinate sixty years on.

Image: The Beatles showing their MBE Insignias after receiving them from the Queen. Credit: PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo 

The Middle East and North Africa's transition from authoritarianism to democracy has been slow and painful, with both hopeful gains as well as worrisome setbacks. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image: Crowds cheer joyfully in central Cairo, Egypt. Credit: Jake Lyell / Alamy Stock Photo 

Paul Lay is joined by Kori Schake to examine the rise and fall of the inspirational Shawnee leader Tecumseh who used strategy to defy America's westward expansion.

Image: Shawnee chief Tecumseh confronting William Henry Harrison in Indiana. Credit: North Wind Picture Archives / Alamy Stock Photo 

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 Photo 

Paul Lay and Alastair Benn are joined by James Barr, historian of the Middle East, to discuss Gaza's long and complex history and how it continues to be felt in the present day.

Image: A print of Gaza around 1880. Credit: Holy Land Art / Alamy Stock Photo 

Finding a new settlement between the Anywheres and the Somewheres is now the central task of modern politics. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image: Poverty in London, 1919. Credit: Classic Picture Library / Alamy Stock Photo 

A new translation of the Iliad is an opportunity to reassess the first great work of European literature.

Image: Achilles and Memnon fighting in Greek pottery dating to 300 BC. Credit: Peter Horree / Alamy Stock Photo 

The need to buttress control is the bottom line for Xi.

Image: Portrait of Mao on the street. Credit: Chuck Nacke / Alamy Stock Photo 

Paul Lay and Alastair Benn are joined by Suzanne Raine, national security and counter-terrorism expert, and Michael Goldfarb, author and broadcaster, to discuss Hamas' terrorist outrage and the uncertain future that follows for the region.

Image: Members of the Hamas Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades. Credit: ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy Stock Photo 

The proletarianisation of knowledge promises a bumpy ride for both us and capitalism as we know it. Read by Leighton Pugh.

The New York Stock Exchange. Credit: Sergi Reboredo / Alamy Stock Photo 

Paul Lay and Alastair Benn discuss the idea of Autumn, a season peculiarly rich in cultural resonances.

Image: Autumn on the Seine, Claude Monet (1840-1926). Credit: IanDagnall Computing / Alamy Stock Photo 

A good political community can only live and flourish in cities that speak to the soul of the citizens and inspire the love of order. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image: Map of Renaissance Florence. Credit: Pictures Now / Alamy Stock Photo 

Paul Lay is joined by Francis J. Gavin, Director of the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at Johns Hopkins SAIS, to discuss nuclear statecraft past and present.

Image: Still from Stanley Kubrick's 1963 film Dr Strangelove. Credit: TCD/Prod.DB / Alamy Stock Photo 

In modern Russia, the past is being rewritten to suit Vladimir Putin's script. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image: People carry portraits of their relatives - soldiers of the Second World War - as they take part in the Immortal Regiment march in downtown Moscow. Credit: SOPA Images Limited / Alamy Stock Photo 

Paul Lay is joined by the historian Sir Hew Strachan to discuss On War, the military theorist Carl von Clausewitz's seminal text, and the indispensable guide to the conduct and practice of war.

Image: Carl von Clausewitz. Credit: ART Collection / Alamy Stock Photo 

The intellectual dark web will, most likely, be a flicker in history, a reminder of when the West’s conversation was at its most shrill, and when free-thinking people had to look to underground clubs for a place to air their thoughts. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image: Camille Paglia. Credit: Independent / Alamy Stock Photo 

JFK biographer Fredrik Logevall, in conversation with EI's Paul Lay and Iain Martin, discusses Kennedy's enduring and 'iconic' status, his claims to greatness, his style, and what his example offers for a divided America.

Image: During a campaign trip Senator John F. Kennedy greets a roadside crowd in Indiana. Credit: American Photo Archive / Alamy Stock Photo 

Dying to defend territory is an ancient human need - but war in the 21st century may not follow the script. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image: English propaganda poster from the First World War showing a column of soldiers and civilians marching to war. Credit: Photo 12 / Alamy Stock Photo 

In the latest episode of EI Talks... Paul Lay and Alastair Benn put together an idiot's guide to Rugby Union. The World Cup, the sport's showcase competition, kicks off tonight. The team gives their predictions.

Image: French Rugby poster from the 1930s. Credit: Lordprice Collection / Alamy Stock Photo 

A defence of capitalism will have to rest first and foremost on an appeal to ethics, obligation, and duty. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Our information-rich civilisation is not superior or inferior to the pre-literate world of Brazil's indigenous peoples, just different. Read by Leighton Pugh.

The destruction of rainforests threatens valuable cultures and reams of possible medical innovations. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Credit: Dennis Frates / Alamy Stock Photo

 A good society is one with a proper balance between the aptitudes of ‘head’, ‘hand’ and ‘heart’. The modern knowledge economy, however, has delivered higher and higher returns to the cognitive elite and reduced the relative pay and status of manual and caring jobs. Read by Leighton Pugh. 

The risks we now face are vast, as is the potential upside of the technology. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Art installation on the theme of AI. Credit: Michele D'Ottavio / Alamy Stock Photo

As the Rolling Stones frontman enters his ninth decade, EI asks whether there is a future for ageing rockers.

Image: Mick Jagger in 1975. Credit: Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo

The internet and social media were supposed to democratise knowledge and unite the world. Things didn't quite turn out that way. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image: Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder of Facebook. Credit: Kristoffer Tripplaar / Alamy Stock Photo

Paul Lay and Alastair Benn discuss the explosion of tourism in the modern era and what might come next.

Image: Travel poster encouraging tourists to visit Blackpool. Credit JJs / Alamy Stock Photo

This celebration of wealth, its frequent elevation to an almost religious level, and its justification not only in terms of its social utility but also, and more remarkably, in personal terms, is one of the defining characteristics of the Florentine public culture and private ethos in the fifteenth century and beyond. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image: An opulent fresco in Renaissance Florence. Credit: Peter Horree / Alamy Stock Photo

Paul Lay and Alastair Benn calmly discuss the uses and misuses of anger.

Image: Thai mural in the temple of the Emerald Buddha, Bangkok. Credit: Sabena Jane Blackbird / Alamy Stock Photo

We must rescue our cities from a culture of ugliness. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image: Sol House, Northampton. Credit: Paul Hanson / Alamy Stock Photo 

Paul Lay and Iskander Rehman discuss masters of early modern statecraft: the Duke of Sully, Cardinal Richelieu, and Cardinal Mazarin.

Image: Cardinal Richelieu at the Siege of La Rochelle. Credit: Niday Picture Library  /  Alamy Stock Photo

Even with all its data and technology, contemporary conflict fits uneasily with our definitions of modernity. Read by Leighton Pugh

Image: Mosul's old city destroyed by bombing. Credit: Associated Press / Alamy Stock Photo

Paul Lay and Alastair Benn are joined by Times columnist James Marriott to discuss whether Artificial Intelligence poses an existential threat to the arts.

Image: Man as Industrial Palace, a poster commissioned by German physician and author Fritz Kahn in 1926. Credit: JJs / Alamy Stock Photo

Warfare made the early modern state. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image: Renaissance-era woodcut of King Louis IX of France and his army disembarking at Damietta, Egypt, in 1249. In a common anachronism, the army and fleet are equipped with cannons. Credit: Florilegius / Alamy Stock Photo

Paul Lay and Alastair Benn are joined by Alexander Lee, biographer of Niccolò Machiavelli, to discuss the Renaissance thinker's foundational contribution to the study of statecraft.

Image: Niccolò Machiavelli. Credit: GL Archive / Alamy Stock Photo

As China ramps up its military spending, the government in Beijing plays up its role in the Second World War. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image: Chinese poster from the Sino-Japanese War. Credit: Album / Alamy Stock Photo

Paul Lay and Alastair Benn discuss the deep meaning of Cricket in light of the forthcoming Ashes series between England and Australia, and the recent wider changes the game has undergone.

Image: The Ashes urn. Credit: David Bagnall / Alamy Stock Photo

Different perspectives and eye-witness accounts reveal historical fallacies and myths about the war. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image: Gustavus Adolphus II. Credit: Wiki Creative Commons

Paul Lay and Alastair Benn discuss the future of Classical music.

Image: String quartet playing in the Saint Nicholas Shopping centre, London. Credit: RayArt Graphics / Alamy Stock Photo 

Paul Lay and Alastair Benn discuss the London Defence Conference and the return of strategic thinking to the Western alliance.

Image: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks with the director of the London Defence Conference, Iain Martin. Credit: PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo 

For as long as there have been cities they have attracted admiration and fear. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Eighteenth century map of London. Credit: Chronicle / Alamy Stock Photo  

In the first episode of the Engelsberg Ideas editorial podcast, EI Talks..., Iain Martin, Paul Lay and Alastair Benn discuss Artificial Intelligence and how it might shape the future for better... or worse.

Image: Programmable humanoid robot NAQ. Credit: Lilyana Vynogradova / Alamy Stock Photo. 

Alfred Thayer Mahan's writings on naval warfare have overshadowed his contributions to geopolitics. His theories, however, are clearly playing out today. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image: A print of a First World War Imperial German Navy battlecruiser, the SMS Goeben. Credit: Troy GB images / Alamy Stock Photo

Isolationist thinking and exceptionalism is on the rise and our global culture is the poorer for it. Our civilisations thrive when in conversation with each other: ideas are exchanged and self-reflection is promoted. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image: An American Mercantile Building in Yokohama, 1861. Credit: Heritage Image Partnership Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo.

What are myths for? More than entertainment alone, these epic tales helped the Ancients follow current affairs. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image: Heritage Image Partnership Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo

Adam Boulton is joined by Paul Lay, Senior Editor of Engelsberg Ideas, Agnès Poirier, journalist and author, and Royal biographer Hugo Vickers, to reflect on the deep meaning and symbolism of Britain's Coronation.

Image: King Charles III views a wooden carving at St. Laurence's Church in Ludlow, Shropshire. Credit: Michelle Jones / Alamy Stock Photo.

In war, we are, like the Duke of Wellington, still trying to guess what is on the other side of the hill, we just have more tools to help us do so. Read by Leighton Pugh

Image: The Left Wing of the British army in Action at the Battle of Waterloo, June 18th 1815. Credit: Historica Graphica Collection/Heritage Images/Getty Images

Hitler's conviction that a new Eurasian order should be constructed with Germany at its zenith had its ideological roots in the early science of geopolitics. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image: This map of Russia and surrounding countries highlights Hitler's campaign in Russia and how it went wrong. Credit: Bettmann

While no longer a state power, the Catholic Church remains a powerful political force in modern diplomacy. Read by Leighton Pugh. 

Image: Pope Francis with his weekly audience in St. Peter's Square, Vatican City, in 2018. Credit: Massimo Wallichia / Getty Images.

Scholars of esotericism are often asked to justify their field of research and its place in modern society. However, esotericism provides fertile ground for radical thinking and is a useful means of considering the limitations of standard western thought. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image:The Flammarion Wood engraving. The image is often used as a metaphorical illustration of either the scientific or the mystical quests for knowledge. Credit: RGB Ventures / SuperStock / Alamy Stock Photo.

Changing technology, climate change, and transformations in global finance mean another new era for cities is dawning: the fifth, or digital, age. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image: Ecological skyscraper in Milan. Credit: Paolo Bona / Alamy Stock Photo.

Central banks have held the financial world in their grip for much of the twentieth century, but is their reign coming to an end?

In this episode of Worldview, Adam Boulton is joined by the former governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, along with journalist and author Merryn Somerset Webb, Iain Martin, Editor-in-Chief of Engelsberg Ideas, and economic historian, Samuel Gregg.

Image: Currencies from around the world. Credit: Jochen Tak / Alamy Stock Photo 

The European Middle Ages have been deemed an era of regression but this couldn't be further from the truth. In this period, the foundations were laid to establish a liberal West centred around the rights of the individual. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image: Construction of highway, eighteenth century France Engineers on horseback inspecting the work, a painting Claude-Joseph Vernet, 1775. Credit: Lebrecht Music & Arts / Alamy Stock Photo.

How can the lessons of history be applied to the present? What are the benefits of taking the long view? 

In this episode of Worldview, Adam Boulton is joined by the scholars Robert Crowcroft, editor of Applied History and Contemporary Policymaking: School of Statecraft, Phillip Bobbitt of the University of Texas, Iskander Rehman, an Ax:son Johnson Fellow at the Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies and Gill Bennett, former Chief Historian of the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Image: The Declaration of Independence by John Trumbull. Credit: Artimages / Alamy Stock Photo.

In our latest episode of History Lessons, Mattias Hessérus is joined by author, historian and journalist Katja Hoyer to discuss her new book Beyond the Wall: East Germany, 1949-1990. Together, they discuss the GDR and its legacy today.

Image: East German pioneers and musicians depicted in the porcelain frieze 'Building of the Republic' designed by German artist Max Lingner (1952–1953) on the building of the Council of Ministers of East Germany (former Reichsluftfahrtministerium), now the Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus in Berlin, Germany. Credit: Azoor Photo / Alamy Stock Photo. 

Cities have been reduced to centres of soulless materialism and their citizens to non-stop consumers. If we hope to create beautiful surroundings, a rethink is required. Read by Leighton Pugh. 

Image: The Vessel at Hudson Yards, New York City. Credit: robertharding / Alamy Stock Photo.

How does an institution in the business of preserving the past prepare itself for the interests and sensibilities of the future? Where do museums fit in the national psyche? 

In our latest episode of Worldview, host Adam Boulton is joined by director of the V&A Tristram Hunt, Professor Armand D'Angour and Dr. Tiffany Jenkins to discuss what the future might hold for museums. 

Image: Renaissance and Medieval sculptures at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Credit: Bjanka Kadic / Alamy Stock Photo.

Asian literature, with its technologically-adept Chinese emperors, Animist Spirit-negotiators, and Yogic sages, shows us how to live well in troubled times. Read by Leighton Pugh. 

Image: Ma Yuan's The Yellow River Breaches its Course, from a series of paintings of water.

In our latest episode of History Lessons, Mattias Hessérus is joined by author Sarah Bakewell to discuss her new book Humanly Possible: Seven Hundred Years of Humanist Freethinking, Enquiry and Hope. Together they chart the history of the Humanist movement and its relevance to this secular age.

Image: The six Tuscan poets. Credit: Giorgio Morara / Alamy Stock Photo.

Where does war end and peace begin? And what role does diplomacy play in that transition?

In our latest episode of Worldview, host Adam Boulton is joined by historians Margaret MacMillan, Andrew Ehrhardt and Frank Gavin, as well as former European Commission High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Catherine Ashton. 

Image: Satirical cartoon of the Congress of Vienna. Credit: The Granger Collection / Alamy Stock Photo

The US cultivated a garden that it grew weary of the burdens of sustaining but, once all other alternatives have been exhausted, the US will be pushed back into defending its liberal world order. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image: 'Young America rescues Europe!', declares a French cartoon from 1918. Credit: Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo.

Is demography destiny? Shifting patterns in population have marked history, drive political change and sharpen cultural divides. 

In our latest episode of Worldview, host Adam Boulton is joined by Paul Morland, the UK's leading demographer, Bill Emmott, former editor of the Economist and author of Japan's Far More Female Future, and Richard Assheton, the Times' and Sunday Times' West Africa correspondent.

Image description: A group of elderly women in Kyoto, Japan. Credit: Trevor Mogg / Alamy Stock Photo.

Augustine’s seminal book was written in the context of the Roman Empire, but it remains ever-relevant. Read by Leighton Pugh. 

Image description: St Augustine / Wiki Public domain.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the worlds of art, manufacturing, medicine, even the language we use, at a bewildering speed. Should we fear or welcome it? What are its risks and rewards? And could it ever come to outpace the human mind? 

In our latest episode of Worldview, host Adam Boulton is joined by Gary Marcus and Ernest Davis of New York University, and Susan Schneider, Director of the Centre for Future Mind, to discuss the profound cultural, philosophical and ethical implications of AI. Meanwhile, journalists Hugo Rifkind and Gaby Wood consider how AI will revolutionise the media and publishing industries. 

Image description: An auction at Sotheby's, London, selling AI art created by Mario Klingemann, March 2019. Credit: Malcolm Park/Alamy Live News.

For the United States, geopolitics has always been about national identity, even in an era of globalisation. Perhaps it always will be.

Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image description: The Marine Corps War Memorial, also known as Iwo Jima Memorial. Credit: DeAgostini/Getty Images

Navigating politico-religious disagreements in a spirit of civility is nigh-on impossible in eras in which the meaning of civility itself is contested. How do we speak to each other civilly in a time of incivility? 

Read by Leighton Pugh. 

Image description: Girolamo Savonarola's execution on the Piazza della Signoria in Florence in 1498. Credit: Heritage Image Partnership Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo.

In the Cold War the Kremlin tried to convince foreign audiences its disinformation campaigns were real, today the aim seems to be different. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image description: Soviet poster of a tank on Red Square. Credit: Alamy Stock Photo.

The crusades, jihad, and wars in defence of intangible ideals all have their origins in a short-lived conflict in the 6th century BC. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Stone relief from the palace of Ashurbanipal, A detail from the battle of Til Tuba. Teumman the Elamite king is trying to escape but his chariot crashes. His horses panic, while he is trying to escape with an arrow in his back, supported by his son. Assyrian. Late Assyrian, c 645 BC. Nineveh, Assyria, Ancient Iraq. (Photo by Werner Forman/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)

Globalisation may appear to be a cornerstone of modernity but humans have always both craved and feared connection, be it social, commercial, spiritual or scientific. Read by Leighton Pugh. 

A 15th Century illustration from a Turkish manuscript depicting a surgical operation. Medical understanding was an important element of the exchange of knowledge between the Islamic world and Europe. Credit: Wikipedia Commons

Garibaldi’s retreat to his home in Caprera spawned a liberal-nationalist ideal of statesmanship that would live long in the European imagination. Read by Leighton Pugh. 

Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882) in his signature red shirt, gazing towards his beloved Italy from a cliff edge on the island of Caprera off the coast of Sicily. Illustration c1920. Credit: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

The Holy Roman Empire was neither a nation state nor indeed a conventional empire. Instead, its inhabitants were unified through a web of legal rights. Read by Leighton Pugh.

A miniature of the Treaty of Verdun, 843. Emperor Louis I (right) blessing the division of the Frankish Empire in 843 into West Francia, Middle Francia, and East Francia. Credit: Wikimedia commons.

Westphalia’s legacy of compromise and conditional sovereignty shows the way to peace in the Middle East. Read by Leighton Pugh. 

The Ratification of the Treaty of Münster, 1648. Found in the collection of the National Gallery, London. Credit: Fine art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images

While critical theory is not without its uses, it is time that we take a more constructive approach to social issues. ‘Mistake theory’ can offer a useful lens. Read by Leighton Pugh

Students graduating from Birmingham University, England. Credit: Malcolm McDougall Photography / Alamy Stock Photo.

It is now clear that genetically editing human beings is not only possible, but increasingly simple. The ethical considerations of this development on the other hand remain complex. To discuss the mapping and editing of the human genome, Adam Boulton is joined by Dr George Church, the 'father of genomics', and Kevin Davies, science author, journalist and the executive editor of the CRISPR journal.

Image description: Genetic editing and gene research in vitro. Credit: Brain light / Alamy Stock Photo.

East Asia, especially China's, economic rise in the latter half of the twentieth century was sudden and impressive but now, growth is stalling. This, combined with the rivalry between the US and China and sovereignty disputes has destabilised the region. Read by Leighton Pugh.

This essay was first published in 2016.

High-rise buildings replace old residences in  Zhejiang, China. Credit: Charles O. Cecil / Alamy Stock Photo

For thousands of years, India and China had relatively little contact, but following China's annexation of Tibet and the end of European colonialism, the two Asian Giants became neighbours. Today, their relationship is increasingly tense. In this episode of Worldview, Adam Boulton is joined by Peter Frankopan, Tanvi Madan and Rana Mitter to put Sino-Indian relations under the microscope.

Image description: The old Silk Route between India and China. Credit: Dinodia Photos / Alamy Stock Photo.

Rather than protecting individual data privacy, the fate of democracy in our networked age might depend on establishing a new, radically transparent contract of trust between government and citizens. Estonia is leading the way. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image: Churches, other landmarks and old buildings at the Old Town in Tallinn, Estonia. Credit: Tuomas Lehtinen / Alamy Stock Photo

In around 1440 AD, a goldsmith called Johannes Gutenberg began assembling the apparatus that would eventually become known as the first Western printing press. Thirty years later, this invention had transformed Europe, spiritually, economically and politically. In this episode of Worldview Adam Boulton is joined by Professor Alexander Lee and Professor Emma Smith to chart the history of the book, from its revolutionary beginnings to the present day.

Image description: Nineteenth century typesetter and printers working with Stanhope cast iron printing press in print shop. Credit: Arterra Picture Library / Alamy Stock Photo.

A history of the nineteenth century tells not just of newly-formed nations, but of newly-developing nationalism. Read by Leighton Pugh. 

Image: Carving Up The World A satirical cartoon by James Gillray, showing British Prime Minister William Pitt and the French leader Napoleon Bonaparte, carving up the world between them. Entitled 'The Plumb Pudding in Danger' - pub. 26th February 1805

The West must have an adaptable power grid to meet the challenges of this geopolitical energy crisis. 

In this episode of Worldview, Adam Boulton is joined by Margarita Balmaceda, Magnus Henrekson, Olamide Oguntoye and Ariana Kiran Singh to discuss generating and transmitting power in the face of growing geopolitical and environmental concerns. 

Image description: Electricity pylon. Credit: David Leadbitter / Alamy Stock Photo.

The crucifixion lodged suffering at the heart of Christianity: to suffer was to be like Christ. This reframing of suffering had far-reaching consequences for world history. Read by Leighton Pugh. 

Image: Jesus Christ on the Cross with St. Mary and St John, painted by Albrecht Altdorfer, circa 1512. Credit: Niday Picture Library / Alamy Stock Photo.

There are currently around 13,000 nuclear warheads worldwide, with Russia possessing the largest nuclear arsenal. 

And yet, nuclear weapons have not been deployed in combat since the US bombed Nagasaki and Hiroshima seventy-seven years ago. 

So, how and why has the nuclear taboo remained intact and what may jeopardise it in the future? 

In this episode of Worldview, Adam Boulton is joined by Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman and Professor Wyn Bowen to discuss the history of nuclear deterrence, the likelihood of nuclear weapons being deployed in Ukraine, and China's growing nuclear arsenal.

Image description: Mock-up of the air defence system around Moscow, in the Patriot Park In Moscow Region, Russia. Credit: Nikolay Vinokurov / Alamy Stock Photo.

With forces such as identity politics and supra-national bodies gaining traction across Europe, the concept of the nation state has never been more important. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image: A painting of the Dutch envoy Adriaan Pauw entering Münster around 1646 for the peace negotiations, painted by Gerard ter Borch. Credit: Wikipedia Commons/Stadtmuseum Münster

When the pioneers of computer engineering created the first integrated circuits in the 1950s they could not have envisaged how this technology would infiltrate all elements of our daily lives.

The production of microchips is now rapidly becoming the defining force in geopolitics and will play a fundamental role in the conflicts of the future. 

In this episode of Worldview, Adam Boulton is joined by Chris Miller, author of Chip Wars, and historian of computing, Thomas Haigh. Together, they discuss the development of the computer chip and how it fits into the coming struggle between the US and China. 

Image description: A retro circuit board with germanium transistors and diodes, electrolytic and ceramic capacitors, carbon resistors, aluminium coils. Credit: KPixMining / Alamy Stock Photo

Geography and politics are closely intertwined, although that no more means that all geography is political than that all politics is geographical. Read by Leighton Pugh. 

Image: An American map of the West Coast of Africa from Sierra Leone to Cape Palmas, 'including the colony of Liberia'. Credit: Everett Collection Historical / Alamy Stock Photo

The Romans burnt Carthage’s books and buildings – but ‘Punic’ identity remained influential throughout Antiquity. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image: Print of ancient Carthage. Source: Wiki Creative Commons

The era in world history that began with the fall of the Soviet Union is drawing to its close. The post-Cold War Eurasian settlement that the United States and its allies imposed after 1990 has three big challengers - Russia, China and Iran. Read by Leighton Pugh. 

Image: A symbol of American power, the National Capitol in Washington, DC. Credit: Christian Offenberg / Alamy Stock Photo.

The West, more specifically the United States, with its major allies alongside it, has been chasing the 'fun wars' for forty years and serially coming up empty. Read by Leighton Pugh. 

Image: British Prime Minister Tony Blair greets an ethnic Albanian by holding up his hand in central Pristina, Yugoslavia during a one-day visit Saturday July 31, 1999. It was Blair's first visit to Kosovo since NATO's bombing campaign against Yugoslavia. (Photo by David Brauchli)

The First World War fundamentally altered our understanding of strategy — we should heed the insights of the era's leading thinkers and generals. Read by Leighton Pugh. 

Image: First World War Commanders looking at a battle plan. Painting by Francois Flameng (1856-1923), 1916. Army Museum, Paris. Credit: Leemage/Corbis via Getty Images

Crises of knowledge precipitate drives towards specialisation. In our digital age we still need polymaths. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image: This chart is taken from the book 'Ars Magna Lucis Et Umbrae' which was published in 1646 by the Jesuit scientist and inventor, Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680). Credit: SSPL/Getty Images

The worst form of ignorance in politics is an inflated opinion of one’s own wisdom. In matters of moral judgement, authority-dependence carries grave risks. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image: French painter David's The Death of Socrates. Credit: Universal History Archive/Getty Images

Political and economic concerns were as critical as environmental and geographic factors in forging the unity of the Mongol Empire. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image: Genghis Khan in combat. Miniature from Jami' al-tawarikh, ca 1430. Found in the collection of Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Artist. Credit: Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images

Land is the silent, steady, partner in the messy realm of politics and national divides between monarchs. Read by Leighton Pugh. You can find the essay featured in this episode here: https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/spirit-lands-and-tyrant-kings-differing-tales-of-statehood/

As hostilities with Russia increase, we must again ask ourselves what drives human beings to conflict, especially after an era of peace. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Credit: Eddie Gerald / Alamy Stock Photo

While the Islamic State’s savvy media presence may have overshadowed that of al-Qaeda over the past decade, the efforts of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) operating in war-torn Yemen show the group remains a long-term threat.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-war-for-hearts-and-minds-the-evolution-of-al-qaedas-media-strategy/

Credit: REUTERS / Alamy Stock Photo

During the Cold War, the British Joint Intelligence Committee was charged with forecasting the actions of states behind the Iron Curtain and the rest of the world. Its record was patchy – the Brits were repeatedly taken by surprise throughout the 20th century. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-joint-intelligence-committee-reading-the-russian-mindset/

Credit: The Central Intelligence Agency via Wikipedia Commons

Demagogues thrive if moderate politicians flatter citizens into an unrealistic sense of their own greatness. Read by Leighton Pugh.
 
https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/democratic-crisis-lessons-from-ancient-athens-4/

Credit: The Picture Art Collection / Alamy Stock Photo

It is not just politics that is beset by tribalism. The social sciences are also vulnerable to in-group bias. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/tribal-bias-from-the-wild-to-the-laboratory-5/

Credit: melita / Alamy Stock Photo

Love has become widely seen as a democracy of salvation open to all. The reality is more complex. Is our religion of love doing more harm than good? Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/is-our-religion-of-love-doing-more-harm-than-good/

Credit: Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images

While there may have been striking similarities between the Gospel of Thomas and those of the four Evangelists, closer examination reveals a subtle yet crucially different perspective on salvation. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-gospel-of-thomas-casting-a-new-light-on-early-christianity/

Credit: REUTERS / Alamy Stock Photo

In this episode of Worldview, Adam Boulton is joined by Professor Helen Thompson, Tim Marshall and Daniel Yergin to discuss the global energy market. 

The fallout of Putin's invasion of Ukraine has overthrown energy norms in Europe. However, over the past decade the energy market has been far from stable. With concerns surrounding climate change and the discovery of new resources, we are on the brink of an energy revolution which will overhaul the geopolitical map as we know it. 

Image description: Oil pumps and refinery in oil field. Credit: Cultural RM / Alamy Stock Photo.

Humanity has come quite some way in the past 200,000 years but are we really anything more than primates with a few million more neurons than our closest relatives? Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/why-16-billion-cortical-neurons-are-not-enough/

Credit: Martin Harvey via Getty Images

What's a war without its leaders? In this week's Worldview, Adam Boulton speaks to leading historians Margaret MacMillan and Andrew Roberts on how leadership shapes both conflicts and their resolutions.

Image description: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, stands for a moment of silence during a ceremony to award medals to service members to celebrate the Day of Defenders of Ukraine in the courtyard of the Mariinskyi Palace, October 14, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Credit: Ukraine Presidents Office / Alamy Stock Photo.

France, like all countries, is haunted by events and mistakes of times past. These ghosts will guide modern policy until they are overridden and laid to rest. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/modern-france-and-the-ghosts-of-the-past/

Credit: Guillaume Louyot / Alamy Stock Photo protests

The Lawrence legend continues to win new devotees while his pragmatic contribution to warfare is neglected. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/lawrence-of-arabia-on-war-how-the-past-haunts-the-present/

Credit: Science History Images / Alamy Stock Photo

Throughout the ages, oracles, journalists and political scientists have attempted to guess the course fate may take. But should they fail to take the specifics, particularly specific individuals, into account, they are doomed to fail. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-importance-of-the-individual-in-history/

Credit: CBW / Alamy Stock Photo

In our latest episode of Worldview hosted by Adam Boulton we consider the role outer space will play in the future of conflict. How soon will conflicts on Earth spill out into space? What form might these conflicts take and how can we regulate them? Adam speaks to Jacob Geer, Dr Stuart Eves and Professor von der Dunk to find out.  

Image description: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. Credit: UPI / Alamy Stock Photo.

Traditional geopolitical solutions (accommodation or military containment) are unlikely to work with Putin’s Russia. Instead the West should pursue a unified geo-economic strategy. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-carrot-and-the-stick-geo-economics-and-russian-revisionism/

Credit: Klaus Oskar Bromberg / Alamy Stock Photo

How does the war in Ukraine look on the ground? What does the future of the battlefield hold? In this week's episode of Worldview, Adam Boulton speaks to Professor Hew Strachan and Dr Rob Johnson to discuss these issues and more.

Image description: A drone operator from field medicine division, Ukraine. Credit: Mykhailo Palinchak / Alamy Stock Photo.

Our new series of Worldview, presented by Adam Boulton is considering the future of warfare and geopolitics in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 

In this week's episode, Adam Boulton is in conversation with Vladislav Zubok and Sir Roderic Lyne, the former British Ambassador to Moscow. While both were horrified by the invasion of Ukraine last February, they offer varying views on how this new age of hostility came about. 

Image description: The Kremlin, in Moscow. Credit: Manuele Cecconi / Alamy Stock Photo.

The condemnation of the annexation of the Crimea was unified and strong, but the sanctions that followed lacked any real bite. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/containing-and-deterring-russia-can-europe-act-strategically/

Credit: Nikolay Vinokurov / Alamy Stock Photo

Our new series of Worldview, presented by Adam Boulton is considering the future of warfare and geopolitics in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 

In this week's episode, Adam Boulton is in conversation with Beatrice Heuser, Baroness Pauline Neville-Jones and Frank Gavin discussing the roles of NATO, the EU and the UN today. How can these twentieth-century institutions tackle the challenges of the twenty-first century? 

Image description: The flags of the NATO member states are hoisted during the ceremonial handover of the new NATO headquarters in Brussels. Credit: dpa picture alliance / Alamy Stock Photo.

For the past sixty years, the use of nuclear weapons has become unthinkable. But with every conflict there comes a point where the unthinkable becomes possible. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/can-nuclear-deterrence-preserve-the-long-peace-between-major-powers/

Credit: RBM Vintage Images / Alamy Stock Photo

In a religious system which presupposed a covenant not just between God and the individual Jew, but between God and Israel as a nation, the sense of communal solidarity had an abiding impact, regardless of the differences between denominations. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Credit: Maraike Hofer / Alamy Stock Photo

For more than thirty years, the US has sought to avoid deploying ground forces into protracted conflict. It has nevertheless done so in almost every single one of those years. Perhaps it is time to accept reality. Read by Leighton Pugh

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/americas-problem-with-unconventional-warfare/

Credit: Bumble Dee / Alamy Stock Photo

Islam — unlike Christianity — may not have a central motif of pain, sin and suffering, but it reveals so much about what it means to live with adversity. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/suffering-the-price-of-being-alive-an-islamic-perspective/

Credit: Dmitrii Melnikov / Alamy Stock Photo

While Christianity may strive to sing in a single voice, no one modern denomination ought to claim a monopoly on the truth. The region's history is in fact far more eclectic. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/reassessing-christian-history/

Credit: Yogi Black / Alamy Stock Photo

The Hindu tradition of Radha and Krishna calls us to see passion as the kernel of all religion. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-gods-in-love/

Credit: Heritage Arts/Heritage Images via Getty Images

As Jesuit missionaries spread further across the globe, the order’s founder wanted to ensure that its members remained connected. The result of this was an unparalleled network of knowledge which superseded religious tensions. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/jesuit/

Credit: Wikipedia Commons/ Bibliothèque Universtaire Moretus Plantin

Portugal’s commercial dominance of large swathes of the world lasted little more than a century but the images, transmissions, and trades that it engendered left a significant and long-lasting influence. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Credit: Jacques Pavlovsky/Sygma via Getty Images

Sea power derives from resources, a direct interest in sea-based trade, and pressure exerted by enemies. In the modern age, the importance of these factors in international affairs remains paramount. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Credit: Lev FedoseyevTASS via Getty Images

If a peace deal is not reached, all the key ingredients are present for Yemen to become a failed state. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/making-sense-of-the-yemen-war/

Credit: MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP via Getty Images

Acts of extreme self-sacrifice – such as suicide bombing – are not aberrations. They tell us something about our deepest instincts for group loyalty. Read by Leighton Pugh. 

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-dark-side-to-loving-a-group/

 Credit: TORSTEN BLACKWOOD/AFP via Getty Images

So-called civilisational states, including Russia, China and India, invoke fake histories to justify and buttress their contemporary political settlements. But those who cannot let go of the past are always at risk of finding themselves imprisoned by it. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-fake-history-of-civilisational-states/

Credit: PUNIT PARANJPE/AFP via Getty Images

Flags have become synonymous with nationhood, character, spirit, and power. In an age of renewed nationalism, their power should not be underestimated.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-flag-wars-are-here-to-stay/

Credit: Anthony WALLACE / AFP via Getty Images

The line between disinformation, propaganda and fake news is often blurred. This is especially the case when it is unclear whether these untruths or half truths are being disseminated by the 'good' or 'bad' guys. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/disinformation-in-the-information-age/

Credit: Franz Aberham via Getty Images

Once established, Roman exceptionalism and empire needed to be justified and maintained. The practical application of mythology was one way in which this was achieved. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/roman-geopolitics-an-exercise-in-myth-making/

Credit: Fred de Noyelle via Getty

The US once enjoyed the esteemed position of being the 'city on the hill', a beacon of hope and an example to the rest of the world. Post-9/11, however, the superpower's conduct in the Middle East has left its reputation tarnished. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/how-us-policy-failure-post-9-11-undermined-international-order/

 Credit: James May/Alamy

Peering into the hearts and minds those living four thousand years ago is an impossible task. However, when it comes to the worship of the Mesopotamian goddess Inanna, it seems clear to be, quite literally, a labour of love and fear.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/uruk-and-the-origins-of-the-sacred-economy/

Credit: Print Collector via Getty Images

While at one point in time the idea that socialist economies would ultimately prevail over capitalism was quite a widespread view the fate of socialist states over the past hundred years have demonstrated that they enjoy only two possible paths: authoritarianism or anarchy.

Credit: Shotshop GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo

While the US remains the sole reigning super power, the rise of China adds complexity to the current world order. Geostrategic conflict is inevitable, but mutual economic interdependence can help manage that conflict and keep it from spiralling out of control.

 Credit: Christian Ohde / Alamy Stock Photo

As the largest country in the world, Russia's might past and present has an inherent link to its geopolitics. But since the decline of the Soviet Union, Moscow's eyes are constantly straying beyond the national borders. In Russia, expansion is often regarded as a means of self-defence.  

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There is frequently no real reason why one person has more claim to live or even rule over a piece of land than another. A reason, however must be provided and it is often be found in a fantastical interpretation of history.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/fantasy-in-middle-eastern-nation-making/

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Why do humans accumulate ideas, knowledge and technologies while other animals are seemingly stick doing the same thing over and over never getting better? Rather than being a question of raw intelligence, it is in fact largely down to luck, trial and error and copying others.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/you-are-not-as-clever-as-you-think/

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Voltaire predicted that religion would be defunct in fifty year's time. Karl Marx called it the opium of the masses and Nietzsche declared that God is dead. Adrian Wooldridge is now saying that He's back. From the rise of Islamic extremism to American evangelism, the twenty-first century is seeing a religious renaissance. Read by Leighton Pugh.

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Studying the evolution of Austria in the 20th century offers deep insight into essential Western political categories. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/austria-nation-state-or-empire/

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The story of how, over the course of three generations, the royal dynasty of Wessex went from near oblivion to fashioning a kingdom that still endures today is the most remarkable and momentous in the island's history. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/aethelstan-the-king-who-forged-a-united-kingdom-of-england/

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The early modern Italian republics are often portrayed as models of bad government. But the fusion of civic humanism and Christianity they championed endures to this day. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/in-defence-of-the-city-state/

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Nationalism is often thought of as a modern development - but its traces can be found in antiquity. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/did-nationalism-exist-in-the-classical-world/

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The influenza pandemic behaved much like the conflict itself - picking out the young and fit before their time. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/counting-the-cost-of-the-1918-19-pandemic/

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Niccolo Machiavelli, Renaissance statesman and political theorist, saw factional politics as essential to the prosperity of the Roman Empire and his native Florence. Are today's partisan divisions as beneficial? Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/machiavelli-and-the-benefits-of-civil-strife/

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The Victorians saw Plato's Republic as an indispensable guide to reform of the public sphere - we should follow their lead. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/leadership-in-crisis-why-the-west-needs-plato-more-than-ever/

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Karl Marx was wrong about revolutions - in practice, they beget Caesars and Napoleons. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/history-shows-revolutions-are-a-disaster/

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Social upheaval has often been a catalyst for artistic change - the Renaissance was no exception. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/crisis-and-the-creation-of-great-art/

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Empty city London had its harbingers in literature and history. How will it emerge from its isolation? Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/pandemics-and-the-metropolis-city-lockdown-london/

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Despite globalisation, the nation state retains its privileged position in world politics. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/a-world-of-nations-and-states-is-here-to-stay/

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Beijing wants to foster a world where Chinese standards replace those of the post-1945 US-led system. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/chinese-china-the-great-uncoupling/

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The tension between independence and compliance is everywhere in society – but in medicine, reason must come before rules. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/covid-19-and-the-moral-case-for-personal-judgement/

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This period of turbulence could turn today's twenty-somethings into the leaders of a new liberal revolution. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/meet-the-zoomer-generation/

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As a result of President Erdogan's embrace of two interlinked geopolitical concepts, 'Strategic Depth' and 'Blue Homeland', Turkey faces international isolation. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/new-turkeys-old-politics/

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To argue that Margaret Thatcher attacked the post-war dream is to caricature, not illuminate, her importance to British history. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/continuity-thatcher-rescuing-a-complex-leader-from-historical-cliche/

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Thucydides saw plague as an opportunity to improve the health of society. But history shows that pandemics have a way of disrupting medical and social progress. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/challenging-the-great-reset-theory-of-pandemics

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Amid the tumult of the 1970s, it appeared the traditional country house had gone into irreversible decline - but it was too early to write it off. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/upstairs-downstairs-demolished-the-changing-fate-of-the-english-country-house/

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The Covid-19 crisis has accentuated all the geopolitical fault lines of the past decade. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/geopolitics-pandemic-geopolitical-conflict/

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The constitutional order is changing as citizens become alienated and demand more say. Americans must take care that their habits of law are not swept away. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/a-government-of-laws/

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London's response to its last plague epidemic involved close collaboration between crown, City and parish. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/living-with-the-great-plague-of-1665/

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The films of John Hughes updated the American Dream for a new generation, and his complex legacy helps us understand what went so wrong. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/john-hughes-and-the-making-and-unmaking-of-the-american-dream/

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Forget the seduction of grand theories and presentist moral judgments. To learn the lessons of the past, the great foreign policy analysts of our age must rediscover the art of historical discernment. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-case-for-applied-history/

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The Romans have so much to teach us about what it means to live in a society in crisis. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/survival-lessons-from-ancient-rome/

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Covid-19 heralds the end of our interconnected world. We'll need wise leaders to navigate what comes next. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/this-crisis-has-the-capacity-to-be-apocalyptic/

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Mattias Hessérus is in conversation with John Ferris, the historian 'behind the enigma' of Britain's signals intelligence agency.

Mattias Hessérus is in conversation with Helen Fry on the ingenious exploits of MI9 – the secret service for escape and evasion.

Over 40,000 books have been written on JFK since his assassination, yet none have succeeded in getting behind the myth of Camelot. Join Mattias Hessérus in discussion with Fredrik Logevall on the making of the man who enchanted America.

Iain Martin with guests Adrian Wooldridge and Vernon Bogdanor discusses the covid crisis and the long-term impact that it might have on the development of the West.

In this episode of History Lessons, Mattias Hesserus is joined by Alexander Lee to discuss Machiavelli’s life and works. Was he always an adept politician?  Was he as immoral as is often claimed?

In this episode of History Lessons, Mattias Hesserus and Jessica Frazier are in conversation about the differences between Eastern and Western philosophies of crisis. Is the desire for a return to ’normal’ inherently western? What can we learn from narratives of rebirth? And, was the global lockdown a mass-participation yogic experiment?

How did the West land in, what we might politely call, a 'sub-optimal' condition? And is a revival of the West feasible? To discuss these questions Iain Martin is joined by Peter Frankopan and David Frum.

This is an Engeslberg Ideas podcast.

On this episode of History Lessons, Mattias Hessérus is joined by the historian and author Andrew Roberts to look through the careers of great figures like Napoleon Bonaparte, Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher (as well as some of history's great villains, Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin) and see how they handled the pressure of a crisis.

History Lessons is an Engelsberg Ideas podcast.

Hosted by Mattias Hessérus.
With Andrew Roberts.
Produced by Nick Hilton for Podot.

On this episode of History Lessons, Mattias Hessérus speaks to the maritime historian Lincoln Paine, author of The Sea and Civilization, about the history of quarantine, how pandemics have affected trade and travel in the past, and whether globalisation can survive the current moment.

Hosted by Mattias Hessérus.
With Lincoln Paine.
Produced by Nick Hilton for Podot.

On this, the first episode of History Lessons, Mattias Hessérus speaks to the historian Tom Holland about the relationship between reality and art in the age of a pandemic.

Hosted by Mattias Hessérus.
With Tom Holland.
Produced by Nick Hilton for Podot.