The hottest Diplomatic History Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top U.S. Politics Topics

Lawrence Freedman Part 2

ChinaTalk • 266 implied HN points • 27 Feb 26
đź’ľ History Diplomatic History
  1. Strategy is often messy and not purely deliberative; small conversations, shifting assumptions, and human limits like fatigue can steer big decisions.
  2. Context and history matter more than tech alone in war; defenses tend to beat offenses, and morale, air power, and information networks often shape outcomes.
  3. Good analysis combines clear, persuasive writing with diverse sources; start writing early to discover the right questions and don’t dismiss journalistic or non-archival material.

First Contact with America

Novum Newsletter • 1110 implied HN points • 26 Jan 26
đź’ľ History Diplomatic History
  1. Sayyid Qutb experienced America as materialistic and morally empty, and that shock pushed him toward radical Islamist ideas and violent opposition to Western modernity.
  2. Wang Huning saw America as technologically powerful but socially fragmented, leading him to champion a Chinese path that emphasizes state-led values, social cohesion, and technological dominance to avoid American-style decay.
  3. Boris Yeltsin’s glimpse of American abundance convinced him to pursue rapid market reforms and privatization in Russia, a move that helped dismantle Soviet structures but ultimately produced oligarchy and deep public disillusionment.

Top Links 990 AI race. Iranian malaise. How Tudor trade policy backfired. The Schmitt-Hayek connection.

Chartbook • 371 implied HN points • 22 Jan 26
đź’ľ History Diplomatic History
  1. The global AI race has shifted, with Chinese AI models overtaking others in downloads by August 2025.
  2. Iran is grappling with deepening political and economic malaise that is affecting its domestic stability and regional role.
  3. Historical trade policies like Tudor-era protectionism can backfire economically, and there is a notable intellectual connection between thinkers such as Schmitt and Hayek that shaped modern political-economic ideas.

Australia: American FOB, American mimic

Kvetch • 60 implied HN points • 01 Mar 26
đź’ľ History Diplomatic History
  1. American power has been the dominant force shaping Australian politics and culture for the last century, with Australia often following U.S. leads rather than acting independently.
  2. Australia’s security posture shifted from Britain to the United States early in the 20th century, effectively making Australia a U.S. forward operating base and binding its military policy to American interests.
  3. Major social and legal changes in Australia — from immigration and civil rights to disability and marriage laws — frequently mirrored American reforms, with U.S. ideas, movements, and precedents strongly influencing Australian law and public debate.

This Week in American History: Venezuela, Then and Now

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 282 implied HN points • 14 Jan 26
đź’ľ History Diplomatic History
  1. The Roosevelt Corollary said that if European powers threatened intervention in Latin America, the United States would sometimes step in itself to prevent it.
  2. In 1902–03 Britain and Germany blockaded Venezuela to collect debts, and Americans feared the Europeans might seize territory, which would have broken the Monroe Doctrine.
  3. Roosevelt’s response reshaped U.S. policy toward the hemisphere and still echoes in modern arguments for American intervention, sometimes referred to as the "Donroe Doctrine".
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Panama Is Back in the News. That Can Be a Good Thing.

Breaking the News • 1834 implied HN points • 29 Dec 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Diplomatic History
  1. Recent talks about the Panama Canal mainly reflect Trump's style of making people feel angry and upset, rather than being based on real issues happening in Panama.
  2. The U.S. cannot 'take back' the canal as it would lead to disaster, just like previous military actions have shown us; it's all about making noise rather than real solutions.
  3. Panama's worth mentioning not just for the Canal, but for its vital water resources and biodiversity, which are important to protecting for future sustainability.

On Trade with Central Asia - Nikolai Petrovsky, 1872

The Library of Alexandria Ultima • 6 implied HN points • 23 Dec 25
đź’ľ History Diplomatic History
  1. Russia’s move into Central Asia was driven by two goals: political advantage against rival powers and opening new markets, so holding the region’s power center was seen as essential.
  2. Bukhara sits at a strategic crossroads between Afghanistan, Persia, Russia and other routes, making it a major exchange hub that any power can access, so control there determines regional influence.
  3. Russian goods flood the Bukharan market via local middlemen and are often sold so cheaply they undercut native cotton and hurt long-term trade interests, creating pressure to assert direct control—potentially by force—to secure those markets.

Master Plan: An Interview with John Lewis Gaddis

The Octavian Report • 0 implied HN points • 23 Dec 25
đź’ľ History Diplomatic History
  1. Effective grand strategy mixes hedgehog focus and fox agility, knowing when to pursue one big aim and when to shift into adaptive, creative problem-solving.
  2. Planning and disciplined preparation are essential, but you must be ready to abandon plans and improvise when unexpected realities hit.
  3. Today’s short attention spans, political polarization, and technological pace make long-term strategy harder, so leaders should cultivate a lightness—flexibility and a broad perspective—rather than rigid ideology.

Greatest War: Tom Holland and Graham Allison on Thucydides

The Octavian Report • 0 implied HN points • 23 Dec 25
đź’ľ History Diplomatic History
  1. When a rising power threatens a ruling one, the structural stress between them makes large-scale conflict more likely and ordinary flashpoints can trigger war.
  2. War is not inevitable—leadership choices and lessons from past cases can prevent catastrophe, but managing a rising power will be a long, stressful generational task.
  3. Thucydides emphasized power politics and left out cultural and social factors, so ancient Athens and Sparta are imperfect models and should be applied to modern states with caution.