Author: Samuel Schiffer

A Page in the Colonial Ledger: Nigeria, Britain, and the Ghosts of Colonialism

Photo Credit: Hurst & Company What Britain did to Nigeria: A Short History of Conquest and Ruleby Max SiollunHurst & Company, 390 pp., $29.95 Since the apparent global ascent of the far-right in popular support and electoral success (the Alternative für Deutschland in Germany, Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, and of course the election of Donald … Continue reading A Page in the Colonial Ledger: Nigeria, Britain, and the Ghosts of Colonialism

Towards a Non-Nation State

Detail from a poster for the Codesa talks. Credit: Judy Seidman Neither Settler nor Native: The Making and Unmaking of Permanent Minoritiesby Mahmood MamdaniThe Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 401 pp., $29.95 In his probing essay “In Search of a Majority” the late James Baldwin seeks to understand why Black people are treated the … Continue reading Towards a Non-Nation State

There is No Society: Islamic Action and Activism under the Thumb of the Saudi State

Saudi youths demonstrate a stunt known as "sidewall skiing" (driving on two wheels) in the northern city of Hail, in Saudi Arabia. Photo Credit: Reuters Graveyard of Clerics: Everyday Activism in Saudi Arabia (2020)by Pascal MenoretStanford University Press, 250 pp., $24.00 Saudi Arabia is a country of extremes: extreme heat, extreme wealth, and as Pascal … Continue reading There is No Society: Islamic Action and Activism under the Thumb of the Saudi State

Owning the Libs: Explaining the Rise of Illiberal Populism After the End of History

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks during Fidesz party campaign rally. Photo credit: Laszlo Balogh/Getty Images The Light that Failed: Why the West is Losing the Fight for Democracy (2020)by Ivan Krastev and Stephen HolmesPegasus Books, 246 pp., $26.95 After the collapse of Soviet-style communism in 1989-1991, analysts infamously declared liberal democracy would sweep the … Continue reading Owning the Libs: Explaining the Rise of Illiberal Populism After the End of History

A Crime to Want Something Different

Sukarno and other leaders of the Non-Aligned Movement. Photo Credit: ResearchGate The Jakarta Method: Washington’s Anticommunist Crusade & The Mass Murder Program That Shaped Our World (2020) By Vincent BevinsPublicAffairs, 307 pp., $28.00 As Vincent Bevins points out in his vital and timely new book, The Jakarta Method, it is the winners who write history. … Continue reading A Crime to Want Something Different

Security Comes First: The Link Between Global Counterinsurgency and American Policing

Police secure an intersection during a third night of unrest in Richmond, Virginia. Photo Credit: Associated Press Badges Without Borders: How Global Counterinsurgency Transformed American Policingby Stuart SchraderUniversity of California Press, 393 pp., $29.95 Stuart Schrader, author of the intellectually and empirically towering Badges Without Borders: How Global Counterinsurgency Transformed American Policing, knows that his … Continue reading Security Comes First: The Link Between Global Counterinsurgency and American Policing

“This Storm is What We Call Progress:” The End of the Frontier and American Empire

Armed militia member patrols US-Mexico Border. Photo Credit: Johnny Milano, Al Jazeera America. The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of Americaby Greg GrandinMetropolitan Books, 369 pp., $30.00 How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United Statesby Daniel ImmerwahrPicador, 515 pp., $30.00 In his … Continue reading “This Storm is What We Call Progress:” The End of the Frontier and American Empire

The Argument for A Democratic Public Health Surveillance Program

A CDC scientist pipetting specimens in one of the Center for Disease Control's (CDC) Biosafety Level-4 (BSL-4) laboratories, located in Atlanta, GA. Photo Credit: Public Health Image Library. Minimizing the spread of coronavirus has been at the forefront of leaders’ and policymakers’ efforts since the onset of the pandemic. Evidently, the benefits of mass surveillance … Continue reading The Argument for A Democratic Public Health Surveillance Program

Focusing on Women in the Fight Against Narcotics in Afghanistan

An Afghan National Army commando with 3rd Company, 1st Special Operations Kandak, looks through his scope as he patrols through a poppy field during a clearing operation in Khugyani District, Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan, May 9, 2013. Photo Credit: U.S. Army Photo by Staff Sgt. Kaily Brown. In June 2018, the Office of the Special Investigator … Continue reading Focusing on Women in the Fight Against Narcotics in Afghanistan