Some today declare that “Western civilisation” is something we should all be simply “for”. But the enlightenment, central to this civilisation, shows how things are rarely so simple.
A fragment of an ancestral Pueblo jar dating to c. A.D. 1150.
Keith Kintigh, Arizona State University
While extreme weather conditions represent a considerable challenge globally, some communities have been living with (and adapting to) similar events for centuries.
What happens next?
Destruction from The Course of Empire by Thomas Cole, 1836, via Wikimedia.
A deep recession, a severe drought and a plunging currency have led to the biggest bailout in IMF history. The government hopes it can avoid the meltdowns that followed past crises.
At least one second daughter of a second son of the British monarch has ended up on the throne in her own right.
To try and understand the Russian revolution outside of the broader social context of the time is to neglect the development of nationhood in the region.
Wikicommons
The Russian Revolution – an event that affected more than Russia and was more than a revolution.
Anti-Apartheid protest in the 1980s are mere snapshots of time in the long journey towards equality, paved by the sweat and blood of those in the African National Congress and beyond.
Paul Weinberg/Wikicommons
Understanding the impact of Apartheid requires looking beyond Nelson Mandela’s achievements to the bloody struggles of the African National Congress and international forces prolonging the violence.
The kind of climate action outlined by the ubiquitous climate checklists won’t be enough.
Chinese stamps commemorating Deng Xiaoping, a leader widely regarded to have modernised the country and made it a formidable economic power, 1998.
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Peter C. Mancall, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Christopher Columbus’ 1492 voyage was really a journey into the unknown. Centuries of conventional wisdom had conditioned him to believe that bizarre beasts and ‘monstrous men’ would be awaiting him.
South Tower being hit during the 9/11 attacks. The events of September 11 2001 has significantly shaped American attitudes and actions towards fighting terrorism, surveilling citizens and othering outsiders.
NIST SIPA/Wikicommons
Though more consequences are likely to develop in the post-9/11 era, the war on terror, heightened government surveillance and Islamophobia are notable legacies of this early 21st century tragedy.
Berlin Wall, 1988. The fall of the Berlin Wall signifies the end of the Cold War and the victory of liberal democratic values.
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Will we soon no longer be able to discern which videos are real and which are fake?
Protests during the Iranian Revolution, 1978 represent broader struggles across the region between secular and Islamic models of governance playing out.
Wikicommons
The Iranian Revolution was a hard-fought battle for those in favour of the Islamist model of governance, inspiring similar movements that have had varying degrees of success across the region.
And if President Trump is removed from office? Meet President Pence.
Mandel Ngan/AFP
The claim of “resistance” inside the White House offers the possibility of government by Trump appointees who prefer to keep their positions rather than publicly denounce a man they disapprove of.
Copies of Bob Woodward’s ‘Fear: Trump in the White House’ are displayed for sale at a Costco in Virginia.
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
Since the Byzantine era, gossipy anecdotes about the mishaps of rulers and their inner circles have been compiled, shared and published.
The horrific incarceration of European Jews during WWII should never be forgotten, particularly when we need to solve contemporary genocide and forced migration issues.
6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust. What happened then, and how we can keep to the promise – “never again”?
Pinochet in the car, 1982 celebrating the 8th anniversary of the coup. His dictatorship in Chile was both a step forwards for neoliberalism and a step back for democracy and human rights.
Wikimedia Commons