Dialogues With The Past/The Diplomatic Debrief

South Africa has recently reached headlines across the United States due to President Donald Trump's choice to accept white South Africans into U.S.A. under refugee status, along with perpetuating claims of active persecution against the white population in South Africa. With this in mind, in my latest post on "The Diplomatic Debrief," I look into the validity of these claims by exploring South Af...

During the late 14th century, the Italian peninsula entered an artistic, economic, and cultural golden age known as the Renaissance. Commerce and new areas of human thought exploded onto the scene, making Italy one of the wealthiest regions in Europe and, arguably, the entire world. Because of this, however, the Italian peninsula - divided into many city-states - would soon become prey to the exte...

In the year 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte, a Corsican general who rose to prominence following several successful military campaigns underneath the Revolutionary French Republic, crowned himself Emperor of the French. Following being crowned, the emperor almost immediately was engaged in a swift campaign by the Austrian and Russian Empires which would culminate in their defeat following Napoleon’s famo...

Following the colonization of Hispaniola, the island that now contains the modern states of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, colonial ambitions by the newly united kingdoms of Aragon and Castile were turned towards a new island just north of their newly founded colony: the island of Cuba. Following the conquest of Cuba, for the following decades, a sense of a frontier-like society emerged in the...

Everyone knows the phrase “Conjunction junction, what’s your function” and “I’m just a bill on capitol hill.” These are due to the great popularity of the popular Schoolhouse Rock! shorts that have become an integral part of American childhood as they have been played in schools throughout America. Released in 1973, almost 200 years following the founding of America, the shorts have educated count...

In the year 1517, a German monk by the name of Martin Luther nailed a list of 95 grievances against the Catholic Church to the front door of a church in Wittenberg, Germany, starting what we now know as the Protestant Reformation. This reformation saw the rising of several protestant reformers who, while all were united in their opposition to the Catholic Church, all held various beliefs on how wo...

Upon the "discovery" of the Americas by the Genoese explorer Christopher Columbus, a rush to acquire wealth and glory emerged from the Spanish kingdoms of Castile and Aragon who had funded the expedition occurred that saw colonies emerging throughout the New World. The first area to be colonized, Cuba, would prove to be a booming area filled with resources, slaves, and gold. In this scenario enter...