We often hear that our world is in permanent crisis—or, as FP columnist Adam Tooze puts it, a polycrisis. Various disasters, from climate extremes to protracted military hostilities, play off of and amplify one another. Yet while many of today’s global issues may feel distinctly modern, history serves as a reminder that they are not without precedent.
In this edition of Flash Points, experts and scholars revisit past decades to uncover the lessons that they hold for modern warfare, international cooperation, authoritarianism, and more. They also highlight the importance of preserving the historical record to overcome the great political challenges of our age.
Soviet infantry in combat during the Battle of Kursk in 1943. Laski Diffusion/Getty Images
The 20th Century’s Lessons for Our New Era of War
Once again, Eurasian autocracies seek to upend the balance of power, Hal Brands writes.
Soldiers of the Weimar Republic stand guard at the Reichstag in Berlin in 1920, looking out over a crowd during a period of unrest. Topical Press Agency/Getty Images
Welcome to Weimar 2.0
Today’s global powers are running a strange simulation of the weak and wobbly republic that governed Germany before World War II, Robert D. Kaplan writes.
Teenagers attend a ceremony to join the patriotic Youth Army movement in Volgograd, Russia, on Jan. 25, 2023. Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images
The Only Way to Achieve Lasting Peace in Ukraine
History shows that security arrangements alone will not be enough, Eugene Finkel writes.
U.S. President Donald Trump on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on Nov. 20, 2019.Joshua Lott/AFP via Getty Images
Trump’s Most Essential History Lesson
What Europe’s 1990s wars can teach the next U.S. president about Ukraine, Stephen Sestanovich writes.
Foreign Policy illustration/iStock photo
Don’t Let Autocrats Erase the Internet
Preserving digital archives is a crucial weapon in discrediting and defeating authoritarian regimes, Suzanne Nossel writes.