Due to the particular experiences of the African continent and its peoples, and the myriad of ways these experiences have been interpreted, appropriated, and reclaimed, there are a pressing series of epistemological, pedagogical, and ethical challenges, especially for those who wish to include African content in predominantly non-Africanist…

On May 1, 2011, a group of U.S. soldiers boarded helicopters at a base in Afghanistan, hoping to find a man named Osama bin Laden. Bin Laden, the leader of the al Qaeda terrorist network, was responsible for a number of terrorist attacks around the world, including those of September 11, 2001, that killed nearly 3,000 people in the United States.…

On March 28-29, 2009, FPRI's Wachman Center hosted 43 teachers from across the country for a weekend of discussion on teaching the nuclear age. In his opening remarks, Walter A. McDougall observed that although students today are not made to crawl under their desks in air raid drills, that atomic power remains, and it is still necessary to raise a…

The legacy of crimes committed during the Second World War in East Asia is still a stumbling block for reconciliation and trustful cultural relations between South Korea, China and Japan. The presentation of this issue in history school books is in the focus of a heated public and academic debate. This book written by historians and pedagogues…

This essay is based on the author's presentation at the Wachman Center's July 26-27, 2008 history institute, co-sponsored and hosted by the Cantigny First Division Foundation of the McCormick Tribune Foundation. For Europeans, World War I remains the epochal event of the twentieth century. For Americans, the war falls between two much larger and…

Examines the general concept of intervention and analyzes specific types of U.S. intervention from a geopolitical perspective. Considers the variables relating to the geography of intervention such as land mass, terrain, population, level of development, political stability, cultural heritage, sphere of influence, expansion, and acquisition of…

Reviews the various interpretations of the U.S. intervention in Guatemala in 1954. Focuses on the work of historians and debates among the realists, revisionists, and postrevisionists. States that the historical literature on this topic can outline the series of events that led to the downfall of Jacobo Arbenz Guzman. (CMK)

This issue of a quarterly publication on world affairs explores the historical significance of the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the implication for U.S. foreign policy. With the breakup of the USSR in 1990-91, Russia for the first time this century does not have control over the non-Russian nations of its former empire in Central Asia,…

Contends that no comparative analysis of the reunifications of Vietnam and Germany has been conducted. Presents a study that helps students and teachers understand the process. Discusses three approaches: (1) a winners-losers hypothesis; (2) a persistent dissimilarities hypothesis; and (3) a borderlands to centrality hypothesis. (CFR)

The nuclear era has produced a horrifying possibility never before existent in human history: the world humanity and civilizations can be destroyed. It is incumbent upon the peoples of the world, and especially those of the United States and Soviet Union, to grasp the enormous and profound consequences of nuclear warfare. The emergence of Mikhail…

For U.S. neo-idealists, the 1990s represented a moment to be seized, a time in which the strategies of conflict and confrontation of the Cold War period could be replaced by strategies designed to enhance cooperation among the nation-states. In 2001, the George W. Bush administration found itself in the position of continuing the same Bill Clinton…

Reports on the Soviet Union's role in the Korean War using the resources of the Soviet-era archives in Russia. Provides historical background about the pre-Korean War era, the start of the war, the Soviet-Chinese relationship, the air and ground battles, and the reasons for ending the Korean War. (CMK)

This 4-day supplementary curriculum unit is designed for use in social studies classes at the upper secondary (9-12) and community college levels. The curriculum unit seeks to explore the roots of contemporary relations between the United State and Soviet Union through an examination of how that relationship evolved from the 18th century to the…

Selected newspaper and journal comments from thirteen countries reflect the biases of national interest. Multi-national views range from hostility to muted approval of Nixon's attempt to remold the diplomatic systems with arranged American-Chinese and American-Russian visits. Since sovereign states invariably interpret foreign affairs in terms of…

This booklet chronicles the emergence of Hong Kong through its stormy history and examines the current status as changes are underway with the return of Hong Kong to China. Maps and charts illustrate the text. Chapters include: (1) Prelude; (2) "The Tiananmen Massacre and Its Aftermath"; (3) "Transition Years: 1991-96"; (4)…