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A discussion of the Great Leap Forward with various historians' views on the causes and consequences. Historians mentioned in the podcast: Becker, Jasper. Hungry Ghosts: Mao’s Secret Famine.   Dikötter, Frank. Mao’s Great Famine.   Jisheng, Yang. Tombstone: The Great Chinese Famine, 1958–1962.   Lynch, Michael. China: From Empire to People’s Republic.   MacFarquhar, Roderick & Schoenhals,...

A discussion about the historical interpretations of the Second Cold War. Resources:Carter, Jimmy. "State of the Union Address, 23 January 1980." In Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States . Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1980.  NATO. "Special Meeting of Foreign and Defence Ministers, Brussels, 12 December 1979." NATO Official Texts. https://www.nato.i...

A brief discussion about detente. Some resources that may be useful: Gaddis, John Lewis. The United States and the Origins of the Cold War, 1941–1947 . New York: Columbia University Press, 1972. Gaddis, John Lewis. We Now Know: Rethinking Cold War History . New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. Hanhimäki, Jussi, and Angela Romano, eds. The Routledge Handbook of the Cold War . Abingdon: Routledg...

Useful resources and some of the historians mentioned in this episode: United Nations. “History of the Question of Palestine.” United Nations, Question of Palestine. United Nations. “About the Nakba.” United Nations, Question of Palestine. United Nations General Assembly. Resolution 181 (II): Future Government of Palestine, 29 November 1947.  United Nations General Assembly. Resolution 194 (III):...

A brief discussion of the syllabus point about socialism with Chinese characteristics. Historians mentioned in the podcast: Deng Xiaoping, “Emancipate the Mind, Seek Truth from Facts and Unite as One in Looking to the Future” (speech, 13 December 1978) Vogel, Ezra F. Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China . Harvard University Press, 2011.read.dukeupress+1  MacFarquhar, Roderick, and Michael...

A brief discussion of Mao's use of the cult of personality and the SEM Historians discussed in the podcast: MacFarquhar, R. The Origins of the Cultural Revolution .  MacFarquhar, R. & Schoenhals, M. Mao’s Last Revolution .  Meisner, M. Mao’s China and After .  Walder, A. Fractured Rebellion .  Teiwes, F. & Sun, W. The Tragedy of Lin Biao .  Chang, J. & Halliday, J. Mao: The Unknown...

A discussion of the different historiographical views on the creation of the EU Reference list European Central Bank, “History,” https://www.ecb.europa.eu/ecb/history-arts-culture/history/ec/html/index.en.html ecb.europa   European Union, “History of the European Union – 1945–59,” https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-history/history-eu/1945-59_en european-union.europa   Europa, “K...

A discussion about the significance of the Prague Spring and Brezhnev Doctrine. Further resources: Brown, A. (2009). The Rise and Fall of Communism . London: Bodley Head.  Gaddis, J. L. (2005). The Cold War: A New History . New York: Penguin.  Judt, T. (2005). Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 . London: Penguin.  Kenez, P. (2006). A History of the Soviet Union from the Beginning to the End ....

Resources for Further Study  Yang Jisheng, Tombstone: The Great Chinese Famine, 1958–1962 * (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2012) . digitalcommons.usf   Frank Dikötter, Mao's Great Famine: The History of China's Most Devastating Catastrophe, 1958–1962 * (Bloomsbury, 2010) "China's Great Famine: 40 Years Later" – Article in British Medical Journal (1998) by Ashton et al. pmc.ncbi....

A discussion of how the arms race reflected the cold war militarily, economically, and psychologically in Europe. Historians referenced in the episode: Gaddis, John Lewis. The Cold War: A New History. Penguin, 2005.  Leffler, Melvyn P. A Preponderance of Power: National Security, the Truman Administration, and the Cold War. Stanford UP, 1992.  Mastny, Vojtech. The Cold War and Soviet Insecurity. O...

A brief discussion about one of the turning points in the Cultural Revolution.

A discussion about the causes, consequences, and significance of the Oslo Accords. Deutsche Welle, "Israeli-Palestinian Oslo Accords leave a complicated legacy," 12 September 2023. The Conversation, "30 years after Arafat-Rabin handshake, clear flaws in Oslo Accords doomed peace talks to failure," 12 September 2023. Carnegie Endowment, "The Illusion of Oslo," 13 Septe...

A discussion about the significance of the 2000 Camp David Accords Clinton, Bill. My Life . Knopf, 2004. (Chapter on Middle East peace efforts)  Ross, Dennis. The Missing Peace: The Inside Story of the Fight for Middle East Peace . Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004.  Sher, Gilead. The Israeli–Palestinian Peace Negotiations, 1999–2001 . Routledge, 2006.  Haniyah, Akram. “The Camp David Papers.” Journ...

A discussion of the continuity and change of China's international relations 1949 - 1979. Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance (1950)  https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/   Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence (1954)  Sino-Indian Agreement, April 29, 1954  https://www.mfa.gov.cn/eng/zy/wjls/   Shanghai Communiqué (1972)  Joint Communiqué of the United States...

A discussion about the causes and significance of the Cultural Revolution. Britannica. (2025). “The Cultural Revolution, 1966–76.” Encyclopædia Britannica . https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-China/The-Cultural-Revolution-1966-76 britannica   Lumen Learning. (2025). “The Cultural Revolution.” World History . https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-worldhistory/chapter/35-1-5-the-cultural-r...

A quick discussion of one of the syllabus dot points MacFarquhar, Roderick, and Michael Schoenhals. Mao’s Last Revolution (2006). Dikötter, Frank. The Cultural Revolution: A People’s History, 1962–1976 (2016). MacFarquhar, Roderick. The Origins of the Cultural Revolution (3 vols., 1974–1997). Wu, Yiching. The Cultural Revolution at the Margins (2014). Zhao, Liang. Across the Great Divide: The Sent...

Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State – “Milestones in the History of U.S. Foreign Relations: The Chinese Revolution of 1949” https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/chinese-rev  BBC – “Jimmy Carter: The US president who became China's friend” https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn446nmjp1vo  Shanghai Communiqué (1972) – via Columbia University’s  Asia for Educators   https://...

A quick recap of the ways the US has been seen as a both a component and barrier for peace in the Middle East.

Was Sadat a hero, traitor, or something in between? William B. Quandt, Camp David: Peacemaking and Politics (Brookings Institution, 1986) — the insider's balanced study; also his Peace Process: American Diplomacy and the Arab–Israeli Conflict since 1967 (3rd ed., 2005). Key quote: Camp David "achieved more than most of its detractors have been willing to acknowledge and less than its most ardent p...

The impact and influence of Arab Nationalism in the Middle East. Antonius, George. The Arab Awakening: The Story of the Arab National Movement. 1938.Barnett, Michael N. Dialogues in Arab Politics: Negotiations in Regional Order. Columbia University Press, 1998.Choueiri, Youssef M. Arab Nationalism: A History. Oxford, 2000.Choueiri, Youssef M. “Nationalism in the Arab World Since 1945.” In The Oxfo...

A discussion about the significance of the Madrid Peace Talks U.S. Department of State (Office of the Historian), "The Madrid Conference, 1991," Milestones in the History of U.S. Foreign Relations . https://history.state.gov/milestones/1989-1992/madrid-conference history.state   United Nations, "Madrid Peace Conference (30 Oct.–1 Nov. 1991)" documentation and Secretary-General...

A discussion about the ways the Soviet Union worked toward and opposed peace in the Middle East.

Abrahamian, Ervand. A History of Modern Iran . Cambridge University Press, 2008.  Freedman, Lawrence & Efraim Karsh. The Gulf Conflict 1990–1991 . Princeton University Press, 1993.  Gause, F. Gregory. The International Relations of the Persian Gulf . Cambridge University Press, 2010.  Gerges, Fawaz. The Far Enemy: Why Jihad Went Global . Cambridge University Press, 2005.  Halliday, Fred. The M...

Was Nasser the one who worked toward peace or made peace more difficult? Aburish, S.K. (2004). Nasser: The Last Arab. New York: St. Martin's Press. Dawisha, A. (2003). Arab Nationalism in the Twentieth Century: From Triumph to Despair. Princeton: PrincetonUniversity Press. Gat, M. (ed.) (2012). In Search of a Peace Settlement: Egypt and Israel Between the Wars, 1967–1973.Basingstoke: Palgrave...

A brief discussion on the importance of Mao's Little Red Book