History As It Happens

President Donald Trump is threatening to cut off aid to Jordan and Egypt if they do not submit to his outrageous demand to take in the Palestinians he hopes to forcibly displace from Gaza. Forced population transfers and denying people the right to return to their land are violations of international law. The president's idea of emptying Gaza of Palestinians, so the U.S. can take over the Gaza Strip and redevelop it, ignores important history. Palestinians who were once driven into Jordan after 1967 turned that country into a base to attack Israel, leading to a civil war in Amman in 1970. Trump is also repeating the mistake of the Abraham Accords, the diplomatic breakthrough of his first term. In this episode, scholar Khaled Elgindy breaks down Trump's Gaza proposal and delves into the origins of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Further reading: The Fallacy of the Abraham Accords by Khaled Elgindy in Foreign Affairs. Blindspot: America and the Palestinians, from Balfour to Trump by Khaled Elgindy Hamas' Victory, Gaza's Defeat by Ihab Hassan in Liberties Jordan on the Edge: Pressures From the War in Gaza by Annelle Sheline (Quincy Institute)

In his inaugural address in Jan. 1989, President George Bush said, "For a new breeze is blowing, and a world refreshed by freedom seems reborn; for in man's heart, if not in fact, the day of the dictator is over." Indeed, with the Cold War winding down, it seemed the world was entering a new era. Within a generation, the number of democratic states would surpass the number of authoritarian regimes for the first time. However, the freedom spring did not last very long, and today democracy is in retreat. What happened? No statesman today would declare dictatorship a thing of the past. In this episode, historian Jeffrey Engel takes us back to the optimism of '89 and discusses the challenges that were immediately ahead of the U.S. when Bush heralded the end of the totalitarian era. Further reading: When the World Seemed New: George H. W. Bush and the End of the Cold War by Jeffrey Engel How Do Dictatorships Survive in the 21st Century? by the Carnegie Corporation

Both major political parties claim to be the true champions of the working class at a time when excessive concentrations of wealth and power are eroding the foundations of American democracy. Unions are not a reality for most workers, especially in the private sector where the unionization rate is about 6 percent. So it is no surprise that worker solidarity -- a collective sense that working-class people have a shared interest in fighting for a greater share of the wealth and more control over their working lives -- is at a low point. In this episode, Georgetown University historian Michael Kazin traces the rise and fall of worker solidarity in America. Further reading: What It Took To Win: A History of the Democratic Party by Michael Kazin Structure and Solidarity by Leo Casey in Dissent (article)

President Trump wants to end birthright citizenship as part of his multifront campaign to close American society to foreigners. A federal judge has temporarily blocked his executive order attempting to abolish part of the Constitution -- Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment. The case may ultimately reach the Supreme Court, more than 150 years after the states ratified the transformative amendment that "transcended race and region, it challenged legal discrimination throughout the nation, and changed and broadened the meaning of freedom for all Americans," in the words of eminent historian Eric Foner. In this episode, Foner delves into the origins of this enduring American conflict over rights and citizenship. Recommended reading: Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution 1863-1877 by Eric Foner (book) A Look Back at the Wong Kim Ark Decision by Scott Bomboy of the National Constitution Center (article)

Israel's destruction of Gaza has caused a rift among Holocaust historians and genocide scholars. They're at odds with one another over what to call it. Is it genocide? Another category of war crime? Or are Israel's actions justified under international law? In this episode, historian Dirk Moses, an expert on genocide studies and international relations, delves into the history of the genocide concept and why over the past 80 years it's been unhelpful in defining, preventing, or punishing the destruction of nations. Further reading: dirkmoses.com for relevant articles and reviews The Problems of Genocide: Permanent Security and the Language of Transgression by Dirk Moses (book) The Gaza Genocide in Five Crises By Ernesto Verdeja (article)

Jimmy Carter (1924-2024) was hailed as an exemplary leader on human rights whose presidency was ruined by crises outside his control, none worse than the hostage crisis in Iran. This favorable view elides critical events that took place during the years before the U.S. embassy was seized in Tehran in Nov. 1979. President Carter acted like the previous presidents he had criticized. He embraced the brutal Shah of Iran, sold him weapons, and stuck with him to the very end. Then the Carter administration avoided making contact with Iran's new revolutionary, Islamist leaders headed by the Ayatollah Khomeini. What if Carter had made different moves? Would U.S.-Iran relations be different today? In this episode, historian and Eurasia Group senior analyst Gregory Brew delves into the Cold War origins of the U.S.-Iran relationship and why Jimmy Carter made a human rights exception for the Shah. Further reading: The Struggle For Iran: Oil, Autocracy, and the Cold War, 1951 to 1954 by Gregory Brew and David S. Painter America and Iran: A History, 1720 to the Present by John Ghazvinian Further listening: Operation Ajax (podcast featuring interview w/ Gregory Brew)

Democrat Joseph R. Biden's very long political career is now over. The man first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972 reached the pinnacle of power at 78 years old when he defeated Republican Donald Trump in 2020. Biden made saving democracy against the Trump threat a leitmotif of his administration. Yet, Biden's missteps -- none worse than his decision to seek a second term -- were largely responsible for Trump's return to power. What will endure from Biden's vision? From his legislative accomplishments or foreign policy decision-making? In this episode, historian Jeremi Suri begins to assess the former president's single term in the White House. Further reading: Biden Attacked the Oligarchs -- Too Little, Too Late by Jeremi Suri, Democracy of Hope on Substack Great Power Politics (Bidenomics) by Adam Tooze, London Review

On the eve of Donald Trump's second inauguration, many Americans are struggling to explain how we got here again. Are past narratives failing to help us understand the present? The history of conservatism or illiberalism may provide some answers for this new age of American politics, this post-post-Cold War period that is upending what we assumed about the march of progress, democracy, and free markets. In this episode, political scientist Damon Linker contends the old pieties no longer apply, but it's difficult to discern a new explanation. Further reading: The Movements of History by Damon Linker, Notes From the Middleground, on Substack

President-elect Donald Trump says China has taken over the Panama Canal. In a news conference, Trump said U.S. military force may be necessary to seize the canal, which would abrogate the 1978 treaty between the U.S. and Panama ceding its control to that Central American country. In this episode, historian Jonathan Brown traces Panama's history from 1903, the year of its independence, through the rule of dictator Omar Torrijos, who persuaded the United States to give up control of the world's busiest waterway. The canal is an important symbol of Panama's sovereignty, and China, contrary to Trump's claims, does not control it. Further reading: The Weak and the Powerful: Omar Torrijos, Panama, and the Non-Aligned World by Jonathan Brown

President-elect Donald Trump, who has said illegal immigrants are "poisoning the blood of our country," vows his administration will implement the largest deportation program in U.S. history. Mass deportations are part of the American story; Mexicans were targeted in "repatriation raids" in the 1930s, and in 1954 the Eisenhower administration undertook "Operation Wetback," a racist slur for people who crossed the southern border by swimming. What were the consequences of these past deportations? Is it possible to deport all the undocumented people in the United States? In this episode, Catholic University historian Julia Young delves into the history of nativism in our nation of immigrants. Further reading: Recent Immigration Surge Has Been Largest in U.S. History (New York Times)

A new nuclear arms race is underway. Almost all the landmark treaties of the Cold War and post-Cold War period restricting the U.S. and Russian arsenals are no longer in effect, having been abrogated or abandoned. China is arming. Other states may be interested in joining the nuclear club, despite the strictures of the non-proliferation treaty of 1968. In this episode, nuclear weapons expert Joe Cirincione, who writes Strategy & History on Substack, discusses the "arms control extinction" and the potential consequences of President-elect Trump's proposals, as stated in Project 2025, to spend trillions in building up America's arsenal. Further reading: The Arms Control Extinction by Joseph Cirincione, Strategy & History on Substack

On Dec. 29, 2024, James Earl Carter died at 100. From 1977 to 1981, he was the 39th president of the United States. Carter's passing reignited a debate over the successes and failures of his one term in the White House. He is remembered for stagflation, gas lines, and the "crisis of confidence." His presidency was upended by economic problems at home and major crises abroad, none greater than the Iran hostage ordeal that vexed his administration for more than 400 days. Yet Carter also left a positive legacy in human rights and racial equality. In this episode, historians Jeremi Suri and Jeffrey Engel provide commentary as we look back on Jimmy Carter's eventful but largely unsuccessful presidency. Credit also to historians Sean Wilentz, John Ghazvinian, and Andrew Bacevich, whose scholarship was cited in this episode.

Note: This episode was produced before the news of the passing of former president Jimmy Carter. The episode scheduled for this upcoming Friday, Jan. 3, will cover Carter's legacy. Today's episode: Biden's humiliating fall. Trump's historic comeback. Assad was ousted. Israel destroyed Gaza. Russia continued to wage war on Ukraine. Democracy retreated. An accused murderer became a folk hero. Caitlin Clark was Time's Athlete of the Year. And the New York Jets -- Martin Di Caro's favorite sports team -- had another miserable campaign. It's the 2024 Year in Review, with historians Jeremi Suri and Jeffrey Engel. Happy New Year, everyone. May 2025 be the year when humanity gets its act together.

The West celebrated the collapse of the Soviet Union. "This is a victory for democracy and freedom. It's a victory for the moral force of our value," said President George Bush from the Oval Office on Dec. 25, 1991, as the final curtain came down on the USSR. Few Russians today are celebrating. The end of one-party rule was welcomed, but the 1990s brought on economic collapse, widespread criminality and corruption, and national humiliation. The decade ended with Putin in power. Yet this does not mean Russians want to return to communism. In this episode, the journalist and political scientist Maria Lipman, who was born in Moscow the year before Stalin's death, discusses what the West gets wrong about its historic "triumph."

Something remarkable happened as British, French, and German soldiers shivered in their trenches on Christmas Eve along a 20-mile-long stretch of the Western Front in 1914. Instead of killing one another, they met in no-man's-land to fraternize. They shared songs and cigarettes rather than bullets and bombshells. In this episode, historian Terri Blom Crocker separates history from memory, myth from reality concerning the Christmas Truce of 1914. The myths say more about man's uses of memory than the First World War itself. Further reading: The Christmas Truce: Myth, Memory, and the First World War by Terri Blom Crocker

Let's talk religion and politics as if we were on the set of All in the Family, the smash 1970s sitcom designed to expose the problems of racism, sexism, and religious intolerance. In this episode, historian Louis Benjamin Rolsky traces the rise and fall of the religious left through the career of Norman Lear, the legendary TV producer and writer. In Lear's view, if Archie Bunker personified the wrong ideas and attitudes, the millions of Americans watching All in the Family would see the errors of his mind. Would Archie Bunker vote for Donald Trump? Recommended reading: Misunderstanding the Right by L. Benjamin Rolsky (New International) The Rise and Fall of the Religious Left by L. Benjamin Rolsky

Since emerging as an independent state in 1991, Georgia has struggled to establish its nationhood. "Joining 'the West' has driven Georgian elites' strategic thinking for decades," writes the historian Bryan Gigantino. Yet, at the same time, Tbilisi must not antagonize Russia, as the legacy of the 2008 war over South Ossetia and Abkhazia still looms over Georgian society. For the past three weeks, demonstrators have staged massive protests, often clashing with police, over the ruling Georgian Dream party's decision to suspend talks to join the European Union. In this episode, Gigantino untangles the complexities of Georgian history and politics as the country copes with life on the post-Soviet periphery. Further reading: In Georgia, a National Election Is a Geopolitical Struggle by Bryan Gigantino (Jacobin)

The fall of Bashar al-Assad marked the historic end of more than 50 years of cruel tyranny that began with his father Hafez, who took power in 1970. The world watched moving scenes of Syrians being freed from the regime's dungeons after a 13-year-long civil war killed hundreds of thousands of people. But who are Syria's new leaders? Who are the rebels that toppled Assad? In this episode, Sefa Secen, an expert on Syria and Middle East security, delves into the country's murky future and dark past.

Midway through his eighth year in office, President Bill Clinton kicked off a White House conference on the "new economy." The internet age was underway, unemployment was low, inflation was dormant, the stock market boomed, major industries had been deregulated, and Congress was preparing to pass a big trade deal with China. The future seemed so bright as Americans enjoyed the longest economic expansion in the country's history. The "new economy" cheerleaders did not foresee the working-class discontent that now defines American capitalism in the Age of Trump. In this episode, historian Nelson Lichtenstein delves into the illusions and missteps that hollowed out the working class. Further reading: A Fabulous Failure: The Clinton Presidency and the Transformation of American Capitalism by Nelson Lichtenstein Why Bidenomics Did Not Deliver at the Polls by Dani Rodrik (Project Syndicate) The Decline of Union Hall Politics by Michael Kazin (Dissent)

Thirty years ago, in early December 1994, at a security summit in Budapest, the United States, United Kingdom, Russia, and Ukraine signed a memorandum in which Kyiv agreed to eliminate all nuclear weapons left on its territory after the collapse of the USSR. In exchange, the other signatories offered assurances to refrain from the threat or use of force against Ukraine's territorial integrity or political independence. Events would prove the Budapest Memorandum to be worth less than the paper it was printed on. Thirty years later, Russia has invaded Ukraine and occupies much of its eastern regions. The war has been devastating, killing tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides. In this episode, historian Michael Kimmage looks back at the empty assurances of the Budapest conference, which were made at a time of great optimism and even cooperation among former foes. Kimmage also contends that today's war is a world war insofar as it has expanding global repercussions and is attracting the involvement of non-European countries. Further reading: How Ukraine Became a World War by Michael Kimmage and Hanna Notte in Foreign Affairs, the official publication of the Council on Foreign Relations

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for individual Israeli and Hamas leaders, charging them with crimes against humanity. The accusations against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense chief Yoav Gallant involve the intentional murder of Palestinian civilians and starvation as a method of war. Since invading Gaza in the aftermath of the Hamas atrocities of Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has killed tens of thousands of Palestinian women and children while utterly destroying most of Gaza's civilian infrastructure. Jewish settlers are said to be waiting to move into the northern Gaza Strip now that it has been emptied of Palestinians. Is it genocide? In this episode, historian Omer Bartov explains why he believes Israel's actions amount to the "intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such." Further reading: Essay on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by Omer Bartov (The Guardian)

After the election, there was a hurricane of postmortems attempting to explain why Kamala Harris lost to Donald Trump. Eschewing small-bore analysis, historian Daniel Bessner posted on X, "I feel like people are missing the fundamental lesson of the election: it is not the Democratic Party that is in crisis; liberalism itself is in crisis." Liberalism—the dominant political philosophy of the American Century—appears to be a spent force amid a wave of illiberal populism and anti-establishment politics. In this episode, Bessner, who co-hosts American Prestige podcast, delves into the origins of liberalism's rise and apparent decline in this post-post-Cold War period. Further reading: Empire Burlesque: What Comes After the American Century? by Daniel Bessner (Harper's)

Over the centuries, Thanksgiving traditions have changed with political, cultural, and religious winds. The holiday's mythic origins were propagated in the mid-nineteenth century, and soon Americans were all celebrating Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November. Parades and football games are important pieces of Americana now synonymous with Thanksgiving -- as is the start of the Christmas shopping season. In this episode, historian David Silverman delves into the history of a quintessential American holiday whose development has as much to do with magazine editor Sara Josepha Hale as the Pilgrim Edward Winslow.

Ronald Reagan was the most consequential U.S. president of the second half of the twentieth century. Conservatives once lionized him before the rise of Donald Trump. Yet how Reagan is remembered does not entirely square with his actual record. Although an anti-government, anti-Communist ideologue, Reagan governed like a pragmatist. Moreover, the fortieth president was a terrible manager with a flimsy grasp of policy. His administration was rife with scandal. When he left office, the federal deficit had nearly tripled. Despite it all, Reagan was an effective national leader who inspired Americans to feel proud of their country again. In this episode, historian and biographer Max Boot delves into the life and times of "The Great Communicator" whose Hollywood and television careers prepared him for political success. Further reading/listening: Reagan: His Life and Legend by Max Boot When Reagan Pressured Israel (podcast) with Salim Yaqub Election of 1980 (podcast) with Jeremi Suri and Jeffrey Engel Star Wars (podcast) with Joe Cirincione

Does the historical concept of oblivion offer a way out of our ruptured political life? "For centuries, legislative acts of oblivion were declared in times when betrayal, war, and tyranny had usurped and undermined the very foundations of law; when a household or nation had been torn apart, its citizens pitted against one another; when identifying, investigating, trying, and sentencing every single guilty party threatened to redouble the harm, to further fracture already divided societies," writes the scholar Linda Kinstler. In this episode, Kinstler delves into the history of oblivion as well as its limitations, as Donald Trump prepares to return to the presidency having gotten away with his attempt to subvert democracy on Jan. 6, 2021. Further reading: Jan. 6, America's Rupture, and the Strange, Forgotten Power of Oblivion by Linda Kinstler (New York Times) Come to This Court and Cry: How the Holocaust Ends by Linda Kinstler (2022)

The United States' most-wanted jihadist in Afghanistan is trying to portray himself as a pragmatic diplomat. Washington doesn't seem to be interested. Sirajuddin Haqqani has the blood of many U.S. soldiers and Afghan civilians on his hands. While the U.S. views him as an enemy, the CIA once handsomely supported his father Jalaluddin Haqqani in the war against the Soviets in the 1980s. The elder Haqqani was close to bin Laden in the years before the Haqqani network would violently resist U.S. invaders -- after the al-Qaeda strikes on 9/11/2001. Ah, Afghanistan, where the past is not even past. In this episode, Adam Weinstein of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft untangles the complexities of a land where the U.S. has been involved for most of the past forty years. Further reading: Is Afghanistan's Most-Wanted Militant Now Its Best Hope For Change? by Christina Goldbaum (New York Times) Ghost Wars by Steve Coll Taliban by Ahmed Rashid

Donald Trump's election victory probably means Hitler comparisons won't go away, even if they make little sense. Still, there are lessons to learn from the collapse of the Weimar Republic in 1933, the year Adolf Hitler was levered into power by conservative elites who wrongly assumed that they could control the "Bohemian corporal." The question is which lessons are the right lessons? In this episode, historian Christian Goeschel of the University of Manchester explains how Hitler achieved power in Germany to avoid facile comparisons to the America of 2024. Our problems today bear little resemblance to the crisis of Weimar democracy.

When it was ratified more than 30 years ago, the North American Free Trade Agreement was hailed as a decision "that will permit us to create an economic order in the world that will promote more growth, more equality, better preservation of the environment, and a greater possibility of world peace," according to President Bill Clinton. Today, NAFTA is toxic, and populist anger at the multilateral free trade regime of the post-Cold War era is redefining global politics. In this episode, Dan Kaufman, a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine, tells us how NAFTA destroyed the working class in his home state of Wisconsin, specifically in Milwaukee, once the "machine shop of the world." Further reading: How NAFTA Broke American Politics by Dan Kaufman Further listening: The Economy, Stupid with historian Nelson Lichtenstein

It's Election Day in America and the survival of liberal democracy is said to be on the ballot. What does this mean? Has the United States ever been a democracy where all enjoy political freedom and economic rights? In this episode, historians Sean Wilentz and James Oakes delve into the history of political conflict in America, the progress and regress of democracy and liberty, a story of liberalism competing and coexisting with illiberalism. Recommended reading: The Rise of American Democracy by Sean Wilentz Freedom National: The Destruction of Slavery in the United States, 1861-1865 by James Oakes

**New episode! History As It Happens has returned!** This is the eighth and final episode in a monthly series examining influential elections in U.S. history. The most recent episode, Election of 2008, was published on Sept 17. As the Obama presidency ended, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was the obvious frontrunner for the Democratic nomination. As for the Republicans, 17 candidates vied for the top spot. As the election year unfolded, few "informed observers" believed the New York real estate developer-turned-reality TV star Donald Trump had a chance. They were all wrong. Not only did Trump, a man with no government or political experience, take over a major party, but he defeated Clinton in the general election, the most stunning upset in American history. What explains the rise of Trump? Historians Jeremi Suri and Jeffrey Engel delve into the defining question of the 21st century in the United States.

This episode was first published on March 4, 2024. Original show notes: The embattled incumbent expressed anguish over soulless materialism. The optimistic challenger promised Americans they could overcome any and all problems. The election of 1980 pitted Democrat Jimmy Carter against Republican Ronald Reagan as Americans struggled with stagflation at home and crises abroad. Reagan's victory marked a sea change in U.S. politics, tilting the political landscape to the right. Reagan crusaded against big government and Soviet Communism. If the incumbent looked impotent in the face of these vexing problems, Reagan projected strength -- a timeless lesson of campaigning. In this episode, historians Jeremi Suri and Jeffrey Engel discuss why this election still matters.

This episode was first published on Feb. 22, 2024 as part of a series marking the second anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Original show notes: In every war, there is a battle over its origins. In this episode, historians Michael Kimmage and Mark Galeotti discuss Kimmage's new book, "Collisions," which seeks to explain why the excessive optimism of the early 1990s about Russia's path toward democracy and market economics never materialized. Moreover, Kimmage's narrative explains what led to each major collision between Russia and Ukraine; Russia and Europe; and Russia and the larger "rules-based order" led by the United States. Russia under Putin -- and for a brief period, Dmitry Medvedev -- and the United States under five presidential administrations could not overcome a fundamental dissonance in how each viewed the other's role in the world. Institutions such as NATO and the E.U., seen in the West as bulwarks of democracy, human rights, and economic prosperity, were viewed with hostility by Putin, who believed an independent Ukraine had no right to join them. ((Note: This conversation was recorded before the eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka fell to Russian forces))

This episode was first published on Oct. 24, 2023. Original show notes: Today's war between Israel and Hamas has its origins in the unresolved problems caused by the events of 1948. The year that witnessed the creation of an independent Jewish state in the former British mandate of Palestine, is known by Palestinians as the nakba, or catastrophe. Internecine violence intensified in 1947 as the U.N. weighed partitioning Palestine into two independent states, one Jewish and one Arab. Then five neighboring Arab countries invaded the new state of Israel immediately after David Ben-Gurion declared independence on May 14, 1948. In all, approximately 750,000 Arabs fled or were driven from their homes by Jewish forces. Many fled to Gaza and were forbidden from returning to their homeland after the war, turning them into permanent refugees. In this episode, Middle East expert Ian Lustick of the University of Pennsylvania discusses the throughline from 1948 to 2023.

This episode was first published on April 12, 2022. Original show notes: Was the Constitution pro- or anti-slavery? Maybe that is the wrong question to ask, even though it remains the question at the heart of public discourse about the founding generation. In this episode, Sean Wilentz and James Oakes -- two major scholars of eighteenth and nineteenth century America -- argue the Constitution was a contested document that marked the beginning of a political conflict over the future of slavery and, therefore, the nature of American democracy. They reject race-centered interpretations that elide early political conflicts over enslavement and the hard-fought progress won by Black Americans and their white allies. The American Revolution was an event of world-historical importance, marking a turning point in the history of human enslavement because it gave life to the world's first abolitionist movement.

This episode was first published on June 25, 2024. Original show notes: Why are Palestinians stateless more than 75 years after the founding of a Jewish state in the same land? Why have international law and the rules-based order established after 1945 failed the Palestinian people? Why hasn't the U.N. with its security council designed to prevent conflict, stopped the Israel-Palestinian conflict? In Nov. 1947 the United Nations General Assembly voted 33 to 13 with 10 abstentions to partition Palestine in one of the most consequential votes the body has ever taken. One side achieved statehood; the other rejected the vote. From this point forward international law hasn't helped Palestinians meet their national aspirations. In this episode, Victor Kattan of the University of Nottingham explains why.

This episode was first published on August 17, 2023. Original show notes: When Robert Oppenheimer accepted the job to lead the top-secret Manhattan Project, he and his fellow physicists expected any bomb would be used against Nazi Germany. But by the time the A-bomb was ready in late July 1945, Hitler was dead and Germany had surrendered. Some scientists questioned whether it was necessary to use "the gadget" against Japan, whose weakened military and industrial capacities could no longer project power across the Pacific. Christopher Nolan's cinematic masterpiece has revived interest in this contentious debate: could the Second World War had been won without destroying Hiroshima and Nagasaki? In this episode, eminent historian David M. Kennedy discusses the difficult circumstances of August 1945. For Americans who look back on it as "the good war," the destruction of Japan may raise uncomfortable moral and ethical questions. Note: Audio excerpts of the "Oppenheimer" film are courtesy Universal Pictures. The source for Harry Truman's speeches is the Miller Center at the University of Virginia.

This is the second of two episodes dealing with the consequences of the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel and ensuing year of war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his country will prevail over its enemies and change the Middle East for the better. This is not the first time Netanyahu (or other national leaders) have claimed war will produce positive results. PLO violence against Israel failed to liberate Palestinians. Israel's victory in 1967, for instance, produced a new set of intractable problems when Tel Aviv decided to occupy the West Bank and Gaza Strip. And the United States' recent record in the region is one of disastrous failure. In this episode, Brian Katulis of the Middle East Institute discusses the Biden administration's diplomatic and security-related missteps after a year of ferocious and expanding war. Recommended reading: America's Strategic Drift in the Middle East by Brian Katulis Treading Cautiously on Shifting Sands: An Assessment of Biden's Middle East Policy Approach, 2021-2023 by Brian Katulis

This is the first of two episodes dealing with the consequences of the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel and ensuing year of war. A year after Israel began its military campaign in Gaza with the aim of destroying Hamas in retaliation for the 10/7 terrorist atrocities, the radical Islamist group survives. Hamas is weakened, but it maintains a brutal grip on power in Gaza. Hamas also continues to hold Israeli hostages who were kidnapped last October. Its leader Yahya Sinwar is believed to be hiding underground, his attitude hardening toward reaching a ceasefire with his lifelong enemy. In this episode, Nathan Brown, an expert on Hamas at George Washington University, delves into the militant group's ability to survive and its political outlook after a year of war. Further listening: Hamas with Nathan Brown (published on Oct. 12, 2023)

Israel's invasion of southern Lebanon is evoking comparisons to 1982, the year Israel tried to rout an enemy on the other side of the border, leading to a catastrophe for Palestinian civilians. What happened at Sabra and Shatila sparked international outrage and a rebuke from Washington. Forty-two years later, Israel is risking falling into a Lebanese abyss once more. In this episode, historian Ahron Bregman, who was an IDF soldier during the siege of Beirut, discusses the causes of the carnage in 1982, why Israel may get stuck in Lebanon again as it fights Hezbollah, and the U.S. role in de-escalating the crisis.

Russian exiles in the West may not be able to change, let alone save, their home country, which is locked in the grip of the Putin autocracy, at war in Ukraine, and in a long conflict with the United States. Yet the exiles are important beyond the realm of politics because their minds and talents enrich Western societies. In this episode, historian Michael Kimmage and Russian journalist and political scientist Maria Lipman, an exile herself, contend "the opposition has no chance of acquiring power in Russia in the foreseeable future." At the same time, Western political leaders and societies must avoid projecting their own beliefs onto the exiles, who find themselves in a very difficult position criticizing their home government from afar. Further reading: Exiles Cannot Save Russia by Michael Kimmage and Maria Lipman in Foreign Affairs (official publication of the Council on Foreign Relations)

After the disastrous failures of the U.S. projects in Iraq and Afghanistan, many Americans have soured on nation-building, especially if it involves the deployment of U.S. troops in a hostile country for years on end. Americans also remember the fiasco in Somalia in 1993 or the hazy national interest when it came to intervening in the Balkans. In this episode, Keith Mines, a former U.S. Army officer and State Department diplomat, contends nation-building is more successful than its detractors are willing to concede. Mines, now an expert on post-conflict stabilization at the U.S. Institute of Peace, has worked in Latin America, Haiti, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, and elsewhere. Further reading: Why Nation Building Matters: Political Consolidation, Building Security Forces, and Economic Development in Failed and Fragile States by Keith Mines

As another presidential election looms, so does the possibility that the ultimate winner will lose the popular vote. The race is decided by the Electoral College, which critics say is anti-democratic body that distorts outcomes. Since 1988, Republican candidates have won the popular vote once (2004), but twice won the White House thanks to an Electoral College majority -- in 2000 and 2016. In this episode, historian Sean Wilentz delves into the origins of the Electoral College at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, debunking the argument that the Electoral College was a concession to slaveholders. Also, Wilentz discusses his new essay in the journal Liberties where he contends a Trump victory in November will imperil American democracy in ways the news media fail to take seriously. Further reading: The Clear and Present Danger by Sean Wilentz in Liberties

Is there a Biden Doctrine? What did it achieve? Where did it fail? The president sought to reset U.S. foreign policy after the unilateralism of the Trump years. Biden spoke of a global battle pitting democracies versus autocracies, and he reinforced U.S. alliances in Europe and Asia. Presidents from Truman to Reagan to George W. Bush saw their names attached to actionable ideas, i.e. containment of Communism, but whatever the name of the strategy U.S. foreign policy since 1945 has been designed to maintain primacy. In this episode, historian Jeffrey Engel delves into decades of doctrines and Biden's successes and failures. Additional reading: What Was the Biden Doctrine? by Jessica T. Mathews in Foreign Affairs

A crushing economic crisis, caused by the subprime mortgage meltdown, and two failing wars were the backdrop for the election of 2008. At the onset of the year, a first-term Democratic senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, was a long shot taking on Hillary Clinton, the New York senator and former first lady with universal name recognition. On the Republican side, Arizona Senator John McCain emerged from a crowded primary field to choose little known Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, whose inane manner became the butt of late-night jokes, as his running mate. The outcome made history as Obama became the first Black president. In this episode, historian Jeremi Suri takes us back into the recent past to examine an election that seems more distant than it actually is, thanks to the earthquake that followed 8 years later.

The Israeli military raids and unchecked settler violence in the West Bank are shifting, for a moment, the world's attention away from the ongoing war in Gaza -- and revealing the brutal realities of Palestinian life under military occupation. In July the U.N.'s top court issued a non-binding opinion saying Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and expanding settlement activity violate international law. In this episode, Omar Rahman of the Middle East Council on Global Affairs delves into the history of Israel's occupation and settlement of the West Bank, which came under its control following the Six Day War in June 1967.

In Israel (and the Palestinian territories), support for a two-state solution has dramatically dropped since the more optimistic years of the Oslo peace process. Since the Second Intifada from 2000, the Israeli peace camp "suffered domestic delegitimization," according to Dahlia Scheindlin, a political strategist and a public opinion expert who has advised on nine national campaigns in Israel among 15 countries. In this episode, Scheindlin explains why leftist politics and political parties have lost ground in Israel, which is now governed by the most right-wing coalition in its history. Further reading: Israel's Annexation of the West Bank Has Already Begun by Dahlia Scheindlin and Yael Berda in Foreign Affairs

In our world of conflicts, a civil war in Africa is going mostly unnoticed in the United States, at least compared to the attention given to the wars in Ukraine and Israel. For the third time in its post-independence history (from 1956), Sudan is embroiled in a horrendous civil war full of massacres, the displacement of millions, and the potential for mass famine. In this episode, Alex de Waal, one of the world's foremost experts on Sudan, delves into the war's origins and the horrible reasons why the world seems helpless to stop it.

Russia invaded Ukraine in an act of naked aggression more than 900 days ago. Both sides have lost at least tens of thousands of their soldiers, yet the 750-mile front has not moved much in the past two years. Neither side appears close to military victory, but they also appear far apart on a possible negotiated settlement. As Ukrainian forces invade the Russian territory of Kursk, and as Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy prepares to show his peace plan to the Biden administration, is a ceasefire possible? In this episode, Anatol Lieven of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft discusses what's at stake as Ukraine pulls off a stunning foray into Russia. Further reading: How the Russian Establishment Really Sees the War Ending by Anatol Lieven in Foreign Policy

This is the second conversation in a two-part series recorded inside the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon. John Adams' one-term presidency was sandwiched between towering figures of the American past. He succeeded the living legend George Washington and was succeeded by Thomas Jefferson, and Adams' time in office was marked by incessant crisis and ferocious partisanship. Historian Lindsay Chervinsky, the new executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library, wants us to look at Adams with a fresh pair of eyes. In her view, President Adams cemented important and lasting precedents for his office at a time when many wondered if the presidency could survive without Washington's calming influence. With the potential for violence looming as the election of 1800 was decided for Jefferson, Adams quietly exited the stage, establishing the republican tradition of the peaceful transfer of power, which lasted until Jan. 6, 2021. Recommended reading: 'Making the Presidency: John Adams and the Precedents That Forged the Republic' by Lindsay Chervinsky

This is the first conversation of a two-part series recorded at the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon. Hundreds of thousands of Americans visit Mount Vernon annually. Relatively few people see the inside of the George Washington Library. Its new executive director is historian Lindsay Chervinsky, and she wants to make the library a meeting place for elevated, historically-informed conversations on current events, while continuing to achieve its core mission of providing space and resources for professional scholars and researchers. Chervinsky's new surroundings are inspiring, as she reveals in this episode of History As It Happens.