It is hard to know where to start in reviewing a book like Command: The Politics of Military Operations from Korea to Ukraine, Sir Lawrence Freedman’s most recent capacious history of a military phenomenon. In previous work, Freedman has tackled strategy and nuclear deterrence—pretty much all of both.[1] Here, he sets out to examine “the…
Category: Essays
H-Diplo | RJISSF Review Essay 112: Ouyang on Prasch, The World is Our Stage
Political observers and the public alike now take as given that American presidents are active participants and policymakers on the global stage. Indeed, as Allison Prasch states, “US presidents have used their rhetorical appeals to exert power, extend influence, persuade audiences to adopt a specific view of the world, and rally the citizenry around a…
Learning the Scholar’s Craft: “Stumbling Into Scholarship from Peace Advocacy”
I am still in the process of embracing the idea that I am a scholar. That is why I was surprised at first when I received the kind invitation to share this essay for H-Diplo’s essay series on “Learning the Scholars’ Craft.” From my perspective, when others recount their lives and careers, they often seem…
H-Diplo | RJISSF Essay 602: Dijn on Learning the Scholar’s Craft
I grew up in Western Europe in the 1990s, during a time proclaimed to be the “end of history.”[1] One of my early memories is of seeing the Berlin Wall come down on TV. I was twelve. When I went to university in 1995, the economy was booming, and liberal democracy went unquestioned. Indeed, so…
H-Diplo | RJISSF Essay 579: Lavelle on Learning the Scholar’s Craft
There is a saying that the only two institutions to survive the Middle Ages are universities and the Catholic Church. While historians may debate the truth of that insight, my interests in the field of international relations and my own approach to the topic and teaching have been overwhelmingly influenced by my formative educational years…
H-Diplo|RJISSF Essay 538: Chandra Manning on Learning the Scholar’s Craft
Readers of H-Diplo will likely wonder “who is that?” when they see identity of the author of this essay since I am neither a historian of diplomacy nor a specialist in international relations. I am a historian of the nineteenth century United States who focuses on slavery, the Civil War, and emancipation, with a teaching…
H-Diplo|RJISSF Essay 531: Alison R. Holmes on Learning the Scholar’s Craft
You could say I carry a genetic predilection for the living and teaching of international affairs as I am essentially the product of fin de siècle globalization. With grandparents and parents who lived the turmoil of war and chaos at the turn of the twentieth century and having seen for myself a world in crisis…
H-Diplo|RJISSF Review Essay 80: Rindzevičiūtė on Krige, ed., Knowledge Flows in a Global Age
In the context of the ongoing Russian war against Ukraine and the growing tensions with China, the question of transnational scientific cooperation has returned to the center of the debates about the future of East-West diplomacy and international relations. The last year saw many panels organised in prominent forums, where academics, experts, and diplomats explored…
H-Diplo|RJISSF Essay 528: Threlkeld on Learning the Scholar’s Craft
Given the trajectory of my scholarship over the last fifteen years, this seems funny to admit, but when I started graduate school, I did not know that US foreign relations history was a thing. I enrolled at the University of Iowa in 2000 to study US women’s history with Linda Kerber. I had graduated the…
H-Diplo|RJISSF Review Essay 68: Hedling on Crocker, et al, Diplomacy and the Future of World Order
H-Diplo | Robert Jervis International Security Studies Forum Review Essay 68 Chester A. Crocker, Fen Osler Hampson and Pamela Aall, eds. Diplomacy and the Future of World Order. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press, 2021. IBSN: 9781647120931 (hardcover $110.95), 9781647120948 (paperback $36.95). Reviewed by Elsa Hedling, Lund University 4 May 2023 | PDF: http://issforum.org/to/RE68 | Website:…