The Roundup Top Ten for March 24, 2023

A Known and Unknown War by Michael Brenes "Time and distance are essential to the historian’s craft. They help us pursue the false promise of objectivity. I should embrace them when thinking about the Iraq War, but I don’t."

 

On Abortion, Corporate Chains Like Walgreens Fear the Republicans More than the "Woke" by Mary Ziegler Despite claims that "woke" corporations are pushing a left-wing agenda, Republican Attorneys General have successfully pressured Walgreens under threat of litigation to stop selling mifepristone in states where abortion remains legal.

 

 

The Crisis of the Intellectuals by Ibram X. Kendi A dire health crisis forced the author to ask what his intellectual work was ultimately for. Intellectuals more broadly need a similar push from the dire state of democracy, and should be assured that when they face pushback about being "illiberal" or "presentist" or violating the traditions of their discipline, they're on the right track.

 

 

20 Years Later, a Massive Effort to Forget the Runup to Iraq Invasion by Stephen Wertheim The impulse for American leaders to forget about Iraq and move on reveals the pathologies of American primacy in world affairs.

 

 

How Can Haiti Move Forward? by Marlene L. Daut Calls for international intervention in Haiti need to consider how the history of foreign interventions—which have been aimed at helping governments instead of people—has brought the nation to its current state of crisis.

 

 

History of Reproductive Law Shows Women in Power aren't the Solution by Lara Friedenfelds The end of Roe v. Wade makes difficult pregnancies and miscarriages potentially legaly perilous for women. The history of how the law determines fault in a lost pregnancy shows that women are as capable as men of participating in a regime that punishes other women for the ends of their pregnancies.

 

 

A Prominent Story about How "Diversity" Entered College Admissions is Wrong by Charles Petersen The plaintiffs in a case seeking to outlaw affirmative action in admission policies are relying on a false narrative that "diversity" entered Harvard's admissions criteria as a way to limit the number of Jews admitted. While the existence of Jewish quotas is documented, the two aren't connected.

 

 

We Miss Dr. Strangelove now that We've Learned to Stop Worrying and Forget the Bomb by Andrew Bacevich Kubrick's classic film forced viewers to confront the possibility that the controls of the world's nuclear weapons were held by fools, fanatics, and outright lunatics. Today, it's too easy to ignore it altogether.

 

 

Nikki Haley's Campaign May Capitalize on Gender Stereotypes, but at a Cost to Women by Jacqueline Beatty The former South Carolina governor and UN Ambassador is seeking to separate herself from other conservatives by leaning into certain gendered stereotypes; this reinforces the idea that women leaders are fundamentally different, which has historically kept women from equal political footing.

 

 

The Police Car is PR for Power without Accountability by Jeffrey Lamson As the central feature of police technology and the main way that departments present themselves to the public, police cars have long been key symbols in police efforts to claim greater legitimacy, resources and power.

 

* This article was originally published here