Search within Early Modern (to c.1800)
"Early Modern (to c.1800)"
Are We Doomed by the Legacy of the Enlightenment?
The Enlightenment refers to when man started utilizing logic to make discoveries, such as natural laws in the political, scientific, and social realms. The legacy of the Enlightenment is that things have changed for the better, but in recent times it seems as though the world is headed for tougher struggles.
The Enduring Wisdom of Sun Tzu and Clausewitz
This essay will assess the relevance of the principles developed in On War and The Art of War to the conduct of war by International Security Assistance Forces in Afghanistan, contrasting the resilient lessons of each philosopher in modern combat. The result is solidified in the idea that war is dynamic -a dialogue that is malleable to whatever will is imposed on it-yet there are universal characteristics of war that are pervasive across time and culture.
Changing Cordoba: An Essay on the first Cordoban Caliph
The second Umayyad Caliphate faced many struggles during its time in the Iberian Peninsula, from internal power conflicts among Muslim factions to the external pressures from the Christian north. ‘Abd al-Rahman III upheld the faith of Islam at a time when all seemed hopeless and was able to restore the Umayyad emirate to its previous stature as the Umayyad Caliphate, and himself to God’s representative on earth.
Francisco de Vitoria and On the American Indians: a modern Contribution to International Relations
Francisco de Vitoria, a theologian of the 16th century and core writer of the Renaissance, questions our understanding of international affairs and, thus, International Relations as an academic discipline. He leads us to think about the ambiguity of the norms of the contemporary international system, and of international law.
Was the 1920s an ‘era of illusion’?
If Hollywood is to be believed, the first half of the Twentieth-Century was characterised by traditional moral values and romantic ideals. The 1920s were full of happy maidens marrying their long lost loves who had all miraculously survived World War One. But in his book ‘The Twentieth-Century World, An International History’, William R. Keylor refers to the 1920s and an “era of illusion”. The following essay will explore this claim.
Hitler’s foreign policy and the Third Reich: 1936-1939
In evaluating Hitler’s power as the maker of German foreign policy from 1936 to 1939 this essay covers some of the most controversial debates on Nazi history. It will show that whilst Hitler determined the direction of foreign policy, it was his exploitation of the opportunities placed before him that led to the Third Reich’s diplomatic successes during the period.
To what extent was diplomacy professionalised in the French system?
“When I entered the service,” wrote Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, “there was no such thing at all.” Within the six centuries of the French diplomatic system diplomacy evolved from its ad-hoc, temporary status in political society into foreign services that practiced within a distinct profession.
‘There is no significant difference between the theories of negotiation of Guicciardini and Richelieu’. Discuss.
Nearly half a century separate Cardinal Richelieu and Francesco Guicciardini but the parallels between the two men betray the similarities in their understanding of power politics and theories of negotiation. Richelieu may have operated outside the Renaissance and Guicciardini from its Florentine apex, but both were influenced by the developing political theories of early modern Europe and the realist raison d’ état of Machiavelli; Guicciardini counted Machiavelli as a friend, and Richelieu was his intellectual descendent – the first politician to prosecute state national interest above notions of medieval universal Christian morality.
Comments