Making and Breaking Global Order in the Twentieth Century (14 – 15 October 2022)

Across the twentieth century, ideas about the global order have sparked a furious debate amongst scholars seeking to understand its power dynamics, structures, institutions, organisation and systems. The majority of the discussion has been centred around the role of states as critical to shaping the workings of the system of international relations and the horizon of peace and security. There has however been an inherent tendency to uphold conventional turning points such as the two World Wars, the Cold War and the North-South divide. We aim to go beyond these traditional understandings and rather focus on the institutions, nations, and often forgotten actors who were full participants alongside Great Powers in shaping the norms, systems and practices that make up global order. At the centre of our enquiry are the role of traditionally disenfranchised or marginalised actors of the Global South, including states, nations, transnational groups, regional organisations, trade union representatives, transnational corporations, activists, agitators and a host of other non-state actors. We also seek to probe the ways in which the different levels of global order interacted in organisations, especially the League of Nations and the United Nations and their associated agencies and systems. There has been a surge of recent scholarship dealing with the legacies and functions of these institutions of international order, and we wish to expand the actors, events, and narratives that play featured roles in the history of 20th century international institutional and organisational transformation.

The Julian Chin Ph.D. Fellowship in Cybersecurity will enable students to follow in the footsteps of Mr. Chin, renowned for solving the most challenging technical problems facing the national security community.  He was called upon over his career to unravel the most difficult problems and vexing issues for the intelligence community, technical collection systems developed and guided by his expertise and troubleshooting skills decades ago are still making a difference today for our nation.  Fellows earning this opportunity will be expected to exhibit traits that Mr. Chin embodied, which was high technical competence, motivation, efficiency, and thoroughness, and above all else strong collaboration and teambuilding skills.

Please join us for a Washington History Seminar Panel with Vladislav Zubok on Collapse: The Fall of the Soviet Union.

More Department of State Records Now Available Online: Diplomatic Instructions, 1785-1906 & Consular Instructions, 1801-1834

November 18, 2021 By Ncurrie, Posted In Digital Projects, Finding Aids, State And Foreign Affairs

Today’s post was written by David Langbart, archivist in Textual Reference at the National Archives at College Park, MD.

The National Archives is pleased to announce that more records of the Department of State have been digitized and are now available online through the National Archives Catalog.  This is the fourth in a series of occasional posts.  It is the final post describing the records that constitute the “central files” of the Department for the period from 1789 to 1906.  The first post described the microfilm digitization project and the first foreign affairs records made available through it.

A Letter from the Archivist on reopening research rooms at the National Archives. 

John J. Sbrega, "An Intellectual Dilemma and Tragedy: Social Darwinism, Pragmatism, and the Industrialization of the American Dream During the Latter Half of the Nineteenth Century," The Journal of American Culture, Volume 44:2 (June 2021), 130-147.

Please join us for a Washington History Seminar Panel with Mary E. Sarotte on Not One Inch: America, Russia, and the Making of Post-Cold War Stalemate.

The National Archives has announced its facility reopening plan:

NARA Reentry and Post-Reentry Plan [PDF]

Please join us for a Washington History Seminar Panel with Benjamin Young on Guns, Guerillas, and the Great Leader: North Korea and the Third World.

Please join us for a Washington History Seminar Panel with Benjamin Young on Guns, Guerillas, and the Great Leader: North Korea and the Third World.

Department of State Records Now Available Online: Despatches from Special Agents, Notes to Foreign Missions, and Notes from Foreign Consuls, 1789-1906

Today’s post was written by David Langbart, archivist in Textual Reference at the National Archives at College Park, MD.

The National Archives is pleased to announce that more records of the Department of State have been digitized and are now available online through the National Archives Catalog.  This is the third in a series of occasional posts.  The first post described the microfilm digitization project and the first foreign affairs records made available through it.  The second post is about consular despatches.

The Global Biography Working Group

PRESENTS

Greg Tomlin

History On-Line Presents:

Professor Mark Kramer 

The Department of History – Faculté des arts et des sciences de l’Université de Montréal is seeking to appoint a tenure-track assistant professor in History of the United States.

English

Please join us for a Washington History Seminar Panel with Mark Bradley and Mary Dudziak on Making the Forever War:  Marilyn B. Young on the Culture and Politics of American Militarism.

AHA Perspectives on History on The Foreign Relations Series at 160 and on The 202 State Department HAC Report 

FEATURES

SHAFR Electronic Communications Editor

The Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR) invites applications for a new position of Electronic Communications Editor, with a focus on social media and content on the SHAFR website. The Communications Editor will plan, execute, and evaluate a variety of virtual communications initiatives, projects, and platforms that strategically align with the broader advancement of SHAFR and the academic field (including development, member relations, and communications). This individual’s scope of work will span SHAFR’s social-media needs, including members, committees and task forces, Council, print publications, and the annual conference. The Electronic Communications Editor will develop an annual work plan, in consultation with the President and the Executive Director and for presentation to Council, and is evaluated against the success of that plan. This position will also work with an advisory committee (much like an editorial board) in order to ensure a variety of perspectives and approaches within the content presented on the website.