Category Archives: War, Culture, and Society

The New Mediterranean Geopolitics

Posted on April 8, 2011 by briansandberg

French military intervention in the Libyan civil war has prompted new thinking about French military policies and about international politics in the Mediterranean region. Le Monde published a debate between several experts on Mediterranean culture and politics, including the historian … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Conflict, Comparative Revolutions, Empires and Imperialism, French History, Mediterranean World, War, Culture, and Society | Leave a comment

French Military Intervention in Libya and the Ivory Coast

Posted on April 6, 2011 by briansandberg

France is suddenly very active in African conflicts, with major military interventions in Libya and the Ivory Coast. French forces have long been involved in the Ivory Coast and in other west African nations where France arguably still has neocolonial … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Conflict, French History, Gender and Warfare, History of Violence, War, Culture, and Society | Leave a comment

Religious Intolerance and Violence

Posted on April 2, 2011 by briansandberg

An episode of religious intolerance in the United States — the burning of a copy of the Qur’an — has provoked a new wave of religious violence in Afghanistan. A Florida pastor and his congregation burned a Qur’an recently, outraging … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Conflict, History of Violence, Religious Violence, War, Culture, and Society | Leave a comment

Crisis Mapping of Conflict Zones

Posted on April 1, 2011 by briansandberg

The United Nations has launched an initiative to do “crisis mapping” of conflict zones, such as Libya, using social media online. The Chronicle of Higher Education has a story about how academics around the world are participating in the UN … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Conflict, Comparative Revolutions, Digital Humanities, History in the Media, Humanities Education, War, Culture, and Society | Leave a comment

Of Pirates, Empire, and Terror

Posted on March 28, 2011 by briansandberg

An interview with Lauren Benton and Dan Edelstein, authors of two new books on piracy, imperialism, and violence appears in a recent issue of the academic journal Humanity. Lauren Benton’s book, A Search for Sovereignty: Law and Geography in European … Continue reading →

Posted in Early Modern Europe, Early Modern World, Empires and Imperialism, French History, French Revolution and Napoleon, Globalization, Piracy, War, Culture, and Society, Warfare in the Early Modern World | Leave a comment

Napoleonic War Finance in the Media

Posted on March 27, 2011 by briansandberg

Princeton economist Paul Krugman discusses war finance during the Napoleonic Wars in his New York Times blog. This short piece is based on an academic journal article published in the Journal of Economic History in 1991.  The article by professors … Continue reading →

Posted in Comparative Revolutions, French History, French Revolution and Napoleon, War, Culture, and Society | Leave a comment

Thinking about Civil Conflict Comparatively

Posted on March 27, 2011 by briansandberg

As the Libyan civil conflict (or revolution if you prefer) continues, observers continue to struggle to make sense of the divisions within Libyan society.  Libyan and North African specialists obviously have much to contribute to analyzing this conflict, but considering … Continue reading →

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Outside the Law: A Film on the Algerian War

Posted on March 25, 2011 by briansandberg

Outside the Law, a recent film by Rachid Bouchareb, revisits the Algerian War of the 1940s and 1950s. Students in HIST 390 History and Film: War in Film may be interested in this film, since we will be watching the … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Conflict, Empires and Imperialism, French History, Historical Film, War, Culture, and Society | Leave a comment

At War in Libya?

Posted on March 23, 2011 by briansandberg

Are the Unites States and its allies at war in Libya? As discussed in a recent post, the airstrikes in Libya can be seen as constituting not merely the institution of a no-fly zone but a military intervention in a … Continue reading →

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Military Intervention in Libya

Posted on March 21, 2011 by briansandberg

While much of the media coverage of the Libyan conflict has focused on the debate over a no-fly zone, the European and American military intervention in Libya is clearly much broader than than a no-fly zone would imply.  The initial … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Conflict, Comparative Revolutions, French History, War, Culture, and Society | Leave a comment