History has placed the stamp of approval on the publication of the Pentagon Papers, the top-secret history of the Vietnam War. If WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange is another Daniel Ellsberg, then it is possible the website's disclosures will be viewed over time as similarly in the public interest. A classroom discussion on the release of…

An attack by Japanese naval aircraft on the USS "Panay" in 1937, which the Japanese government declared accidental and for which it paid compensation, caused a crisis in U.S.-Japanese relations. A little-known dimension of the incident was the expression of spontaneous sympathy and apologies by Japanese citizens to the U.S. embassy in…

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…

This article presents an interview with Beatrice Beach Szekely, a comparative education scholar that specialized in the Soviet Union. She was editor of the journal "Soviet Education" from 1970 to 1989. During the interview, Szekely talked about how she became personally involved in Russian/Soviet studies of education. She related that…

Interdisciplinary work across the humanities and social sciences is moving beyond analysis of any one nation in isolation and instead placing urgent questions in the larger matrix of the Americas as a hemisphere. But little attention has been given to the overarching methodological, institutional, and pedagogical issues resulting from the growth…

On September 29-30, 2007, FPRI's Marvin Wachman Fund for International Education presented a weekend of discussion on "Teaching Military History: Why and How" for 35 teachers from 22 states across the country. The institute was held at the First Division Museum in Wheaton, Illinois and co-sponsored by the Cantigny First Division Foundation.…

The United States needs a foreign policy and a defense strategy that combine to make clear to friends and foe alike, and to U.S. citizens, what America's vital interests are in the world. There needs to be a consistency between words and actions. (RM)

The seven books analyzed here reflect clear and often exasperating prejudices. However, when taken as a whole, their individual perspectives yield a wealth of information, material, and ideas that can increase understanding of both the complexities of America's involvement in Vietnam and the questions surrounding such involvement. (RM)

The United States and China each play a vital role in the other's security strategy and share a desire to deter the Soviet Union from the use of force against other nations. Washington and Beijing Peking must stabilize their bilateral relations and hold regular consultations to understand each other's security strategy. (SR)

The author looks at the question of American imperialism in the presidential campaign of 1900 through the thoughts and words of Adlai Stevenson. (Author/RM)

This article details the celebrated friendship of Benjamin Franklin and Mme Brillon de Jouy during the years following the American Revolution. (Text is in French.) (DB)

Provides background and events leading up to the Korean War. Elaborates by examining President Truman's, Secretary of State Acheson's, and General MacArthur's views about the conflict. (BSR)

Focuses on the problem of the U.S. president receiving gifts from foreign dignitaries. The reproducible letter from President Lincoln to King Rama IV of Siam in which he accepts two gifts and graciously declines proffered elephants serves as center for discussion of the problem. Suggestions for teaching and a crossword puzzle are included. (KC)