Beginning tomorrow the author of this blog shall be traveling on the other side of the “Great Firewall.” While I am sure I shall be able to leap the Firewall should desperate need arise, the occasion of my journey will allows little time for blogging. Expect e-mails sent to the Scholar’s Stage account to be […]
The ten most controversial (i.e. most prone to edit wars) articles in the English, German, French, Spanish Czech, Hungarian, Romanian, Arabic, Farsi, and Hebrew language Wikipedias: Source: Taha Yasseri1, Anselm Spoerri, Mark Graham1, and János Kertész. “The most controversial topics in Wikipedia: A multilingual and geographical analysis” Upcoming chapter in Global Wikipedia: International and cross-cultural […]
Which is worse – the tyrant who lives afar or the tyrant who lives next door? Tyranny from local powers is often worse than the tyranny of more distant despots. Yet local tyrannies, as oppressive as they may be, face limits to their power that larger tyrannies need not fear. Man will wield power. Its form may change with time and place, […]
In my review of Michael Lotus and James Bennett’s America 3.0 I stated that French anthropologist Emmanuel Todd (whose work is cited extensively in said work) “is the most under-rated “big idea” thinker in the field of world history.” Craig Willy’s most recent blog post explains why: “Emmanuel Todd’s L’invention de l’Europe: A critical summary“Craig Willy. […]
Early last month Peter Turchin published a couple of posts on whether or not the “Great Divergence” (sometimes called the ‘Rise of the West’ or ‘the European Miracle’) can be approached scientifically. Both posts were excellent, and as is usual at Professor Turchin’s place, the comment thread that followed the posts was of exceptional quality. […]
I usually label posts about Iran with the tag ‘Persia.’ This week it occurred to me that this label is a tad inaccurate. Iran is a lot less Persian than you may think.Here is the CIA World Factbook’s [1] break down of the Iranian population by ethnic identity: Persian 61%Azeri 16%Kurd 10%Lur 6%Baloch 2%Arab 2%Turkmen […]
“ADAMS and JEFFERSON, I have said, are no more. As human beings, indeed, they are no more. They are no more, as in 1776, bold and fearless advocates of independence; no more, as at subsequent periods, the head of the government; nor more, as we have recently seen them, aged and venerable objects of admiration […]
Chinese history, politics, and strategic thought are topics regularly returned to at The Stage. I have devoted several articles on the best books and resources for learning about China’s history and strategic corpus; below I provide a list of the (English language) websites that I find useful for keeping track of contemporary Chinese affairs.AggregatorsBill Bishop […]
Image Source “When one seeks imperial power, there is no mean between the heights and the abyss.” –Tacitus, The Histories, Book 2.74 The American dream is dead. Matthew O’Brien thinks he knows why: “RIP, American Dream? Why It’s So Hard For the Poor to Get Ahead Today“Matthew O’Brien. The Atlantic. 18 June 2013. It is […]
