The EI Podcast

On the latest episode of History Lessons, Mattias Hessérus is in conversation with Katja Hoyer on the creation of the German empire, the role of Otto von Bismarck in its creation and what this period reveals about Germany today.

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While the US remains the sole reigning super power, the rise of China adds complexity to the current world order. Geostrategic conflict is inevitable, but mutual economic interdependence can help manage that conflict and keep it from spiralling out of control.

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As the largest country in the world, Russia's might past and present has an inherent link to its geopolitics. But since the decline of the Soviet Union, Moscow's eyes are constantly straying beyond the national borders. In Russia, expansion is often regarded as a means of self-defence.  

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There is frequently no real reason why one person has more claim to live or even rule over a piece of land than another. A reason, however must be provided and it is often be found in a fantastical interpretation of history.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/fantasy-in-middle-eastern-nation-making/

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Why do humans accumulate ideas, knowledge and technologies while other animals are seemingly stick doing the same thing over and over never getting better? Rather than being a question of raw intelligence, it is in fact largely down to luck, trial and error and copying others.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/you-are-not-as-clever-as-you-think/

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Voltaire predicted that religion would be defunct in fifty year's time. Karl Marx called it the opium of the masses and Nietzsche declared that God is dead. Adrian Wooldridge is now saying that He's back. From the rise of Islamic extremism to American evangelism, the twenty-first century is seeing a religious renaissance. Read by Leighton Pugh.

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Iain Martin is joined by Hal Brands, the Henry A. Kissinger Distinguished Professor of Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Together, they discuss the theories of Halford Mackinder and how in 1904, he charted out a map of the tumultuous century to follow.

In this week's episode of History Lessons, Mattias speaks to Adrian Wooldridge on the history and future of meritocracy, spanning Tang dynasty China to Trump's America.

Studying the evolution of Austria in the 20th century offers deep insight into essential Western political categories. Read by Leighton Pugh.

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/austria-nation-state-or-empire/

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On the latest edition of History Lessons, Mattias Hessérus is in conversation with historian Andrew Roberts on his mission to repair the reputation of Britain's most maligned and misunderstood monarch.