Contending Voices: Problems in World History

In my third annual commentary on the V-Dem Project’s democracy report, I break down the data on global trends in democracy and autocracy.

This historical overview summarizes regional conflict and change in Arabic-speaking Asia from 1800 to today. It traces empires, national movements, wars, migrations, diasporas, decolonization, and economic change over time.

Scientia recently published a summary of a 2023 article I wrote, which detailed the patterns of human evolution as they relate to the origins and development of households and communities.

The ongoing war in Gaza is not just a war between Israelis and Palestinians. It is a defining global struggle in decolonization and national equality. What key events have led to this harrowing moment?

This overview looks at five periods of hominin species, tracing the evolution of group behavior through their overall phenotype, the details of individual senses and signals, and varied links between individuals.

The information that animals take in—combined with the signals they outwardly project—has enabled the formation of groups and group behavior. This development can be traced throughout the Animal Kingdom from early times to the present.

Examples of past (and current) global protests show how people in different nations—and with differing political views—come together to make a statement about human values. Such global activism is powerful; it may even have an impact in reshaping the United Nations.

Environmental degradation continues to outpace reform. What are the key factors driving this crisis and humanity's understanding of it? And what might offer the best chance of limiting environmental collapse?

Climate and the environment are top policy issues today. In this blog post—the first in a two-part series—I trace the history of these topics. I highlight key trends and moments in history that exacerbated environmental degradation, as well as those that shaped public opinion about such destruction. I also outline key scientific advances that have… Read More »A Timeline of the Rise of Environmentalism: 1940s–1970s

Early Modern History, a subfield of World History, explores the centuries before 1800 CE. The Journal of Early Modern History, since 1997, has shown the importance of global interactions for the period from 1300 to 1800 CE. In addition, recent studies are expanding the scope of the “early modern” era to even earlier times, including… Read More »Early Modern History: Porcelain and the Yellow River in China

The 2024 V-Dem report on global democracy seeks to explain the rise in autocracy around the world. I explore this report through comparisons of global politics at different levels—and consider what effect international organizations may have on democracy.

The campaign to reform the United Nations Security Council may indeed come to a head at the Summit of the Future in September. What are the key aspects of this debate? What might happen if the campaign succeeds? Or if it fails?