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Engelsberg Ideas
@engelsbergideas.bsky.social
Engelsberg Ideas is home to great writing from leading thinkers on history, culture and geopolitics, featuring essays as well as regular podcasts.

https://engelsbergideas.com/
The confrontation over Greenland has become a defining test for the Nordic countries, revealing deep interdependencies shaped by history, geography, and alliance politics.

The Nordic strategic tradition | Peter Haldén

engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-n...
The Nordic strategic tradition
The confrontation over Greenland has become a defining test for the Nordic countries, revealing deep interdependencies shaped by history, geography, and alliance politics.
engelsbergideas.com
February 6, 2026 at 12:45 PM
The mutable German-Jewish historian was many things, but never dull.

The transformation of Ernst Kantorowicz | Samuel Rubinstein

engelsbergideas.com/reviews/the-...
The transformation of Ernst Kantorowicz
The mutable German-Jewish historian was many things, but never dull.
engelsbergideas.com
February 6, 2026 at 8:56 AM
Inside Moltbook, a social network run by AI agents, bots debate, cooperate, and form communities, forcing us to rethink what culture means.

Moltbook’s new society | Lisa Klaassen

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/mol...
Moltbook's new society
Inside Moltbook, a social network run by AI agents, bots debate, cooperate, and form communities, forcing us to rethink what culture means.
engelsbergideas.com
February 6, 2026 at 8:54 AM
Reposted by Engelsberg Ideas
🎧The EI Podcast: The making of Xi Jinping’s worldview

Rana Mitter explores Xi Jinping’s personal and ideological mindset in conversation with EI’s
@jackfdickens.bsky.social

audioboom.com/posts/885751...
The making of Xi Jinping's worldview
Rana Mitter (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/rana-mitter/) explores Xi Jinping’s personal and ideological mindset in conversation with EI’s Jack Dickens (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/jack-dic...
audioboom.com
February 5, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Reposted by Engelsberg Ideas
Who is Xi Jinping and what motivates him?

I sat down with Rana Mitter to explore Xi’s worldview, and what it means for both China and the world.
February 5, 2026 at 2:06 PM
🎧The EI Podcast: The making of Xi Jinping’s worldview

Rana Mitter explores Xi Jinping’s personal and ideological mindset in conversation with EI’s
@jackfdickens.bsky.social

audioboom.com/posts/885751...
The making of Xi Jinping's worldview
Rana Mitter (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/rana-mitter/) explores Xi Jinping’s personal and ideological mindset in conversation with EI’s Jack Dickens (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/jack-dic...
audioboom.com
February 5, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Reposted by Engelsberg Ideas
Suez at 70.
The standard morality tale blames Eden’s deception. But the deeper lesson is about alliance asymmetry: Britain discovered it couldn’t rely on the “Special Relationship” to simulate being a great power.

My new essay for
@engelsbergideas.bsky.social
February 5, 2026 at 11:07 AM
The Suez Crisis marked the moment when British statesmen realised that they could no longer rely on the American alliance to simulate being a great power.

Britain’s Suez catastrophe | Ioannes Chountis de Fabbri
(@chountisdefabbri.bsky.social)

engelsbergideas.com/essays/brita...
Britain's Suez catastrophe
The Suez Crisis, a severe geopolitical shock for all of Europe, marked the moment when British statesmen realised that they could no longer rely on the American alliance to simulate being a great powe...
engelsbergideas.com
February 5, 2026 at 10:48 AM
Reposted by Engelsberg Ideas
Do go and see the British Museum's spellbinding new Samurai exhibition if you have a chance.

Meanwhile, my essay for Engelsberg Ideas on the origins and legacies of Japan's warrior class:
February 5, 2026 at 7:07 AM
Nearly 700 years after their political dominance ended, Japan’s warrior elite continue to shape global culture.

Why the samurai still matter | Chris Harding (@drchrisharding.bsky.social)

engelsbergideas.com/essays/why-t...
Why the samurai still matter
Nearly 700 years after their political dominance ended, Japan’s warrior elite continue to shape global culture.
engelsbergideas.com
February 4, 2026 at 4:02 PM
Reposted by Engelsberg Ideas
📝 NEW | Last December, Dr Shiraz Maher spent a fortnight in Syria, observing celebrations to mark the first year since the country’s liberation

He's now written up his experience for @engelsbergideas.bsky.social

🔗 engelsbergideas.com/notebook/vis...
Visions of a new Syria
Efforts to craft a new identity for Syria will mean little if its government cannot get a grip on spiralling sectarian violence.
engelsbergideas.com
February 4, 2026 at 10:52 AM
The contemporary world order is poorly suited to today's dynamic, changing international system, a disparity that lies at the heart of our current sense of crisis.

The future of world order | Francis J. Gavin

engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-f...
The future of world order
The contemporary world order is poorly suited to today's dynamic, changing international system, a disparity that lies at the heart of our current sense of crisis.
engelsbergideas.com
February 4, 2026 at 1:10 PM
China's drive to turn the Renminbi into a global currency may run into structural barriers.

Dollar v Renminbi | @quantumstrategy.bsky.social

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/dol...
Dollar v Renminbi
China's drive to turn the Renminbi into a global currency may run into structural barriers.
engelsbergideas.com
February 4, 2026 at 9:48 AM
Reposted by Engelsberg Ideas
In a post-literate world, reading is treated more like an assumed good than a skill to be actively practised.

The perils of hyper-literacy | @alastairbenn.bsky.social

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the...
The perils of hyper-literacy
In a post-literate world, reading is treated more like an assumed good than a skill to be actively practised.
engelsbergideas.com
February 3, 2026 at 9:47 AM
Reposted by Engelsberg Ideas
Germany has long been a laboratory for political experiments, good and ill.

Germany, land of experiments | Daniel Johnson

engelsbergideas.com/essays/germa...
Germany, land of experiments
Germany has long been a laboratory for political experiments, good and ill.
engelsbergideas.com
February 3, 2026 at 12:07 PM
Germany has long been a laboratory for political experiments, good and ill.

Germany, land of experiments | Daniel Johnson

engelsbergideas.com/essays/germa...
Germany, land of experiments
Germany has long been a laboratory for political experiments, good and ill.
engelsbergideas.com
February 3, 2026 at 12:07 PM
Reposted by Engelsberg Ideas
A great read from @duncanweldon.bsky.social
February 1, 2026 at 11:08 PM
Reposted by Engelsberg Ideas
In a post-literate world, reading is treated more like an assumed good than a skill to be actively practised.

My latest for @engelsbergideas.bsky.social:

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the...
The perils of hyper-literacy
In a post-literate world, reading is treated more like an assumed good than a skill to be actively practised.
engelsbergideas.com
February 3, 2026 at 10:30 AM
In a post-literate world, reading is treated more like an assumed good than a skill to be actively practised.

The perils of hyper-literacy | @alastairbenn.bsky.social

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the...
The perils of hyper-literacy
In a post-literate world, reading is treated more like an assumed good than a skill to be actively practised.
engelsbergideas.com
February 3, 2026 at 9:47 AM
Efforts to craft a new identity for Syria will mean little if its government cannot get a grip on spiralling sectarian violence.

Visions of a new Syria | Shiraz Maher

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/vis...
Visions of a new Syria
Efforts to craft a new identity for Syria will mean little if its government cannot get a grip on spiralling sectarian violence.
engelsbergideas.com
February 2, 2026 at 4:56 PM
Reposted by Engelsberg Ideas
This is very good and balanced.
Iran’s last Shah presided over rapid economic growth and social transformation. Yet the unresolved political legacy of Pahlavi rule continues to haunt Iran’s opposition.

The stakes of a Pahlavi restoration | Roham Alvandi

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the...
The stakes of a Pahlavi restoration
Iran’s last Shah presided over rapid economic growth, social transformation, and expanding opportunity, particularly for women. Yet the unresolved political legacy of Pahlavi rule continues to haunt I...
engelsbergideas.com
January 29, 2026 at 12:19 PM
Reposted by Engelsberg Ideas
Nietzsche believed in slow reading: attentive, effortful, and transformative. This was the essence of his philosophy of reading against the rush of modern life. @engelsbergideas.bsky.social
January 29, 2026 at 10:55 AM
Treating culture as a battlefield is not the way to revitalise the world of opera.

How not to save opera | Alexandra Wilson (@amwilson.bsky.social)

engelsbergideas.com/reviews/how-...
How not to save opera
Treating culture as a battlefield is not the way to revitalise the world of opera.
engelsbergideas.com
February 2, 2026 at 11:11 AM
Dan‑el Padilla Peralta, a prominent American classicist, has emerged as the face of radical critique in the academy – but his approach threatens to dismantle the field rather than rejuvenate it.

The Revolution within Classics | Jaspreet Singh Boparai

engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-r...
The Revolution within Classics
Dan‑el Padilla Peralta, a prominent American classicist, has emerged as the face of radical critique in the academy – but his approach threatens to dismantle the field rather than rejuvenate it.
engelsbergideas.com
January 30, 2026 at 9:04 AM
From Oscar Wilde to Muriel Spark, many British writers, artists and thinkers were drawn to the Catholic Church in the 20th century.

The allure of Catholic conversion | Guy Stagg

engelsbergideas.com/reviews/the-...
The allure of Catholic conversion
From Oscar Wilde to Muriel Spark, many British writers, artists and thinkers were drawn to the Catholic Church in the 20th century.
engelsbergideas.com
January 29, 2026 at 1:46 PM