Woodrow Wilson and American Empire
After World War I, it looked like President Wilson's ideas about preserving democracy would mean decolonization. But the age of empires wasn't quite over.
How American Girl Scouts Shocked Mexico in the 1950s
At a retreat center called Our Cabaña, girls from all over the world became Cold War–era diplomats. American scouts had additional ideas.
The Global History of Labor and Race: Foundations and Key Concepts
How have workers around the world sought to change their conditions, and how have racial divisions affected their efforts?
Fly Me to Cuba, Said the American Hijackers
The first diplomatic agreement between the US and Castro's Cuba was to stop Americans from committing "skyjackings."
Was Modern Art Really a CIA Psy-Op?
The number of MoMA-CIA crossovers is highly suspicious, to say the least.
Four Flowering Plants That Have Been Decidedly Queered
The queer history of the pansy and other flowers.
How the Vietnam War Shaped US Immigration Policy
The makings of our modern resettlement system can be traced back to the fallout of the Vietnam War, a cascade of international crises stoked by the U.S.
The Lavender Scare
In 1950, the U.S. State Department fired 91 employees because they were homosexual or suspected of being homosexual.
The Jim Crow Roots of the U.S.-Saudi Arabia Relationship
Americans started pouring into Saudi Arabia in the 1940s to develop the oil fields. They brought their ideas about segregation with them.
The Fable of the Fourteen Points
Woodrow Wilson's legendary support for "self-determination" is indeed just a legend.