The International Brigades
Foreigners fighting for Ukraine may call to mind the International Brigades that fought in defense of the Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War.
Counting War’s Civilian Dead
Despite claims of precision strikes and the proliferation of smart bombs, the number of civilians killed in war appears staggeringly high.
Mothers and War
Seeing images of mothers in wartime Ukraine sent editor Morgan Godvin down a research rabbit hole.
The Bayonet: What’s the Point?
According to one scholar, the military sees training in this obsolete weapon as helpful on the modern battlefield.
Can Thucydides Teach Us Why We Go to War?
A contemporary scholar uses the ancient Greek historian to explain the 1968 Pueblo Crisis in North Korea.
How Harry Truman Rose to Fame Curbing War Profiteers
Right when the U.S. needed supplies for World War II, military contractors started overcharging. An obscure senator from Missouri challenged them.
Bipartisan Forever Wars
A critical analysis of both political parties is necessary to understand how the US has created its informal empire—and to envision a different future.
The Many Meanings of Yellow Ribbons
The strange and convoluted history of why yellow ribbons became a symbol of the Gulf War in the 1990s.
How “Pyrrhic Victory” Became a Go-To Metaphor
We call futile victories "pyrrhic," after an ancient Roman battle. But that battle may have been misinterpreted--or had a different conclusion altogether.
The Gender-Bending Style of Yankee Doodle’s Macaroni
The outlandish "macaroni" style of 18th-century England blurred the boundaries of gender, as well as class and nationality.