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Diplomatic History
World Affairs November 30, 2023

Reluctance in World Politics

Why States Fail to Act Decisively

Sandra Destradi

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
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Why do international actors, including powerful states, often fail to develop clear foreign policies and instead adopt indecisive, ‘muddling-through’ approaches? In Reluctance in World Politics: Why States Fail to Act …

Diplomatic History

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Interviews with scholars of diplomatic history about their new books.

America and Beyond with Paul Starobin November 30, 2023

On “Henry Kissinger and His World”

A Discussion with Barry Gewen

Barry Gewen

Hosted by Paul Starobin
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In my talk with Barry Gewen on his 2020 book, The Inevitability of Tragedy: Henry Kissinger and His World (W. W. Norton, 2020), we explore the disparate influences that shaped Kissinger …
Medieval History November 30, 2023

The Power of Protocol

Diplomatics and the Dynamics of Papal Government, c. 400 – c.1600

D. L. d'Avray

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
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The Power of Protocol: Diplomatics and the Dynamics of Papal Government, c. 400 – c.1600 (Cambridge University Press, 2023) by Dr. David d’Avray asks: How did the papacy govern European …
World Affairs November 29, 2023

The Project-State and Its Rivals

A New History of the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries

Charles S. Maier

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
We thought we knew the story of the twentieth century. For many in the West, after the two world conflicts and the long cold war, the verdict was clear: democratic …
East Asian Studies November 28, 2023

The Perils of Interpreting

The Extraordinary Lives of Two Translators Between Qing China and the British Empire

Henrietta Harrison

Hosted by Sarah Bramao-Ramos
The Perils of Interpreting: The Extraordinary Lives of Two Translators Between Qing China and the British Empire (Princeton UP, 2021) is a fascinating history of China's relations with the West--told through …
Diplomatic History November 26, 2023

The Burden-Sharing Dilemma

Coercive Diplomacy in US Alliance Politics

Brian D. Blankenship

Hosted by Nathan Moore
The Burden-Sharing Dilemma: Coercive Diplomacy in US Alliance Politics (Cornell UP, 2023) examines the conditions under which the United States is willing and able to pressure its allies to assume …
Arguing History November 24, 2023

The Idea of "Central Europe" from Naumann to Kundera

A Discussion with Martyn Rady and Alexander Watson

Martyn Rady and Alexander Watson

Hosted by Charles Coutinho
Central Europe has long been infamous as a region beset by war, a place where empires clashed and world wars began. In The Middle Kingdoms: A New History of Central Europe …
European Politics November 24, 2023

Russia and Ukraine

Entangled Histories, Diverging States

Maria Popova and Oxana Shevel

Hosted by Tim Jones
Russia and Ukraine have alternative histories and alternative destinies. After the Soviet Union collapsed - depending on who you spoke to – they were either a single people artificially divided …
Medieval History November 24, 2023

International Law in Europe, 700–1200

Jenny Benham

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
Was there international law in the Middle Ages? Using treaties as its main source, International Law in Europe, 700-1200 (Manchester University Press, 2022) by Dr. Jenny Benham examines the extent …
Russian and Eurasian Studies November 22, 2023

The Sea in Russian Strategy

Andrew Monaghan and Richard Connolly

Hosted by Stephen Satkiewicz
The common perception of Russia's status as a great power is often portrayed as being based largely on land power. Being the largest country in the world and fielding massively …
Madison's Notes November 21, 2023

Providence and Power

Rabbi Meir Soloveichik on Jewish Statesmanship from King David to David Ben Gurion

Meir Y. Soloveichik

Hosted by Annika Nordquist
For thousands of years, the Jewish people lacked a political state; yet, what can we say about the Jewish tradition of statesmanship? What makes it distinctive, and what can we …
Middle Eastern Studies November 21, 2023

Redefining Ceasefires

Wartime Order and Statebuilding in Syria

Marika Sosnowski

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
Since 2012, ceasefires have been used in Syria to halt violence and facilitate peace agreements. However, in Redefining Ceasefires: Wartime Order and Statebuilding in Syria (Cambridge University Press, 2023), Dr …
International Horizons November 21, 2023

The US State Department and Ever-Changing Global Politics

A Discussion with Bill Russo, Assistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs

Bill Russo

Hosted by International Horizons
In this episode of International Horizons, RBI director John Torpey interviews Assistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs Bill Russo. Assistant Secretary Russo commented on the role of the …
General History November 20, 2023

The Greek Junta and the International System

A Case Study of Southern European Dictatorships, 1967-74

Antonis Klapsis, Constantine Arvanitopoulos, Evanthis Hatzivassiliou, and Effie G.H. Pedaliu

Hosted by Ari Barbalat
The Greek Junta and the International System: A Case Study of Southern European Dictatorships, 1967-74 (Routledge, 2020) examines the international dimensions of the Greek military dictatorship of 1967 to 197 …
American Studies November 19, 2023

The Liberty to Take Fish

Atlantic Fisheries and Federal Power in Nineteenth-Century America

Thomas Blake Earle

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
In The Liberty to Take Fish: Atlantic Fisheries and Federal Power in Nineteenth-Century America (Cornell University Press, 2023), Dr. Thomas Blake Earle offers an incisive and nuanced history of the …
CEU Press Podcast Series November 17, 2023

The Russia-Ukraine War, Volumes 1-2

Author Spotlight Series

Bálint Madlovics and Bálint Magyar

Hosted by CEU Press
In this episode of the CEU Press Podcast Series, host Bálint Madlovics sat down for a fascinating discussion on the impact of the war on Ukraine’s patronal democracy, with his …
The Future of . . . with Owen Bennett-Jones November 14, 2023

The Future of World Disorder

A Discussion with Peter R. Neumann

Peter R. Neumann

Hosted by Owen Bennett-Jones
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Do confusions in the West threaten a new world disorder? It’s a question asked by Professor Peter R. Neumann of Kings College, London. He is the author of The New World …
Eastern European Studies November 12, 2023

The Life and Death of States

Central Europe and the Transformation of Modern Sovereignty

Natasha Wheatley

Hosted by Vladislav Lilic
Natasha Wheatley is an Assistant Professor of History at Princeton University. Her bold and riveting debut monograph, The Life and Death of States: Central Europe and the Transformation of Modern Sovereignty …
Diplomatic History November 11, 2023

Grand Delusion

The Rise and Fall of American Ambition in the Middle East

Steven Simon

Hosted by Andrew Pace
A longtime American foreign policy insider’s penetrating and definitive reckoning with this country’s involvement in the Middle East The culmination of almost forty years at the highest levels of policymaking …
Economic and Business History November 11, 2023

Natural Allies

Environment, Energy, and the History of US-Canada Relations

Daniel Macfarlane

Hosted by Filippo De Chirico
No two nations have exchanged natural resources, produced transborder environmental agreements, or cooperatively altered ecosystems on the same scale as Canada and the United States. Environmental and energy diplomacy have …