Why Did Nixon Burn the China Hands?
Nixon targeted Foreign Service officers who served in China in the 1940s as communist sympathizers and "fellow travelers." Then he opened trade relations.
Hong Kong Was Formed as a City of Refugees
The story of Hong Kong, one of the most densely populated places on Earth, can't be separated from its international situation.
The Jim Crow Roots of the U.S.-Saudi Arabia Relationship
Americans started pouring into Saudi Arabia in the 1940s to develop the oil fields. They brought their ideas about segregation with them.
How Should German Teachers Approach Oktoberfest?
Americans have some pretty specific and limited stereotypes about German culture. The way teachers address topics like Oktoberfest can make a difference.
The Saltwater Railroad
Throughout the 19th century, enslaved people attempted to escape from the U.S. to the Bahamas, across what became known as the "Saltwater Railroad."
Progress Is Not the Same as Westernization
Jalal Al-e Ahmad, a political and literary writer in pre-revolutionary Iran, had ideas about how his country could modernize in its own, non-Western way.
The Dawn of WWII, According to the Chief of British Secret Intelligence
An original essay from 1939.
How Colonialism Shaped Body Shaming
When did heaviness and curviness in women become connected with the idea of "savagery"? It has a lot to do with 19th-century imperialist world views.
Was It Really a Mummy’s Curse?
A slew of mysterious deaths following the opening of King Tut's tomb prompted one epidemiologist to investigate.
The Lost City of Heracleion
Once a bustling metropolis, this long-lost Egyptian city flooded, sank, and was forgotten -- until archeologists rediscovered it.