History – Page 8 – The Scholar's Stage

Signal Like Its 1711: James Addison on Partisan Signaling, 18th Century Style

30 May, 2015By The People, Electoral Intrigues, Europa Regina, History, Narrative

Portrait of Joseph Addison (1672-1719), by Godfrey Kneller, c. 1712 Image source: Wikimedia I sometimes complain that 21st century American political culture has been hijacked by hyper-partisan signaling. It is easy to forget that this is not a new complaint. You can find political signaling spirals rearing their ugly head many times in humanity’s past–at […]

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Chinese Strategic Tradition: A Research Program (II)

28 May, 2015History, Narrative, Political Theory, Strategy, The Middle Kingdom

This post is the second in a series. I strongly recommended readers start with the first post, which introduces the purpose and methods of this essay. That post focused on what is published in English on Chinese strategic thought. This post focuses on what has been written about Chinese strategic practice–that is, the military, diplomatic, […]

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The Chinese Strategic Tradition: A Research Program (I)

26 May, 2015History, Political Theory, Possessions For All Time, Strategy, The Middle Kingdom

Mao Zedong writing On Protracted Warfare (Yan’an, 1938) Source: Wikimedia. INTRODUCTION Last fall I wrote a popular series of posts outlining the history of the eight decade war waged between the Chinese Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu (old style: Hsiung-nu) nomadic empire. My posts were a response to a prominent American strategic theorist who misunderstood […]

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When Modern War Met an Antique Art

08 May, 2015Dogs of War, History, Japan, Narrative

Kobayashi Kiyochika, “In the Battle of the Yellow Sea a Sailor Onboard Our JapaneseWarship ‘Matsushima’, on the Verge of Dying, Asked Whether or Notthe Enemy Ship had been Destroyed” (October 1894) [2000.109a-c] Sharf Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The earliest extant woodblock print was uncovered in a 7th century tomb excavated in the outskirts of […]

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Introducing: Asabiyah

02 May, 2015Dogs of War, History, Near East, Political Theory, Steppe and Sown, Tyranny

If mankind is, as has been claimed since ancient days, a species driven by the narrow passions of self interest, what holds human society together as one cohesive whole? How can a community of egoists, each devoted to nothing but his or her own ambition, thrive? Or for that matter, long exist? Thomas Hobbes of […]

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Health ≠ Wealth

22 March, 2015Energy, Epidemiology, History, Narrative, Wealth

Jun Fujita, “National Guardsmen Questioning African American, 1919,” 1919, Photograph, Chicago Historical Society Archives. Chicago. Image Source. A week or so ago I came across a short Pacific Standard column by Jim Russel on Twitter. The article highlights a new paper by economists Dan Black, Seth Sanders, Evan Taylor, and Lowell Taylor on the early twentieth century “Great Migration” of African Americans away […]

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A Civilization Is at Stake Here

27 February, 2015Arabia, Culture, History, Near East, On Humanity, Persia, Religion, Tyranny

Perhaps the most predictable fall-out of Graeme Wood’s influential cover article for The Atlantic, “What the Islamic State Really Wants,” is another round of debate over whether or not the atrocities committed by ISIS and other armed fundamentalist terrorist outfits are sanctioned by the Qur’an, Hadith, and other Islamic texts, and if not, whether these […]

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Why the Mongols Conquered the World, According to the Mongols

23 February, 2015Dogs of War, History, Korea, Narrative, Steppe and Sown, The Middle Kingdom

Illustration of Rashid-ad-Din’s Gami’ at-tawarih. Tabriz (?), 1st quarter of 14th century. Source: Wikimedia. “One day after the suppression of the Sambyeolcho rebellion, the two comrades in arms, Koryo general Kim Pang-kyong and Mongol general Hsintu enjoyed a moment together in Kaeyong. Presently, Hsintu caught a young sparrow and, after playing with it awhile, he clubbed […]

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Notes From All Over (8/1/14): Tech Giants, Asian Media, and Japanese History

08 January, 2015Demographics, Europa Regina, Geography, History, Japan, Military Affairs, Monied Interests, Notes From All Over, Political Theory, Religion, Southeast Asia, The Middle Kingdom, Tyranny, Wealth

A collection of articles, essays, and blog post of merit. TOP BILLING “The State of Consumer Technology at the End of 2014“Ben Thompson, Stratechery (16 December 2014). One of the defining characteristics of the three major epochs of consumer computing – PC, Internet, and mobile – is that they have been largely complementary: we didn’t […]

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The Radical Sunzi

02 January, 2015Dogs of War, History, Political Theory, Possessions For All Time, The Middle Kingdom

Victor Mair’s translation of the Sunzi Bingfa. Image Source. When translated into English, the Sunzi Bingfa, usually titled Sunzi’s Art of War, is a fairly small work. When we take away the commentary and annotation added by its translators we are left with a sparse text indeed: Roger Ames’ translation is 71 pages long, the […]

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