Jack Dickens
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jackfdickens.bsky.social
Jack Dickens
@jackfdickens.bsky.social
130 followers 160 following 52 posts
Historian & journalist exploring geopolitics, empires and the Middle East. Cricket tragic 🏏 Commissioning Editor at Engelsberg Ideas | Email: jack@engelsbergideas.com
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Jack Dickens @jackfdickens.bsky.social · Oct 1
In an explosive White Paper, issued in May 1939, the British government made an extraordinary offer to the Palestinian Arab leadership: Britain would recognise an independent, Arab-majority Palestinian state within 10 years.

What happened next? Find out in my latest piece for EI:
Reposted by Jack Dickens
engelsbergideas.bsky.social
As 'Islam' rose from a personal act of submission to an ideology, it eclipsed the very divinity it sought to serve.

Modern Islam’s loss of theology | Fitzroy Morrissey

engelsbergideas.com/reviews/mode...
Modern Islam's loss of theology
As 'Islam' rose from a personal act of submission to an ideology, it eclipsed the very divinity it sought to serve.
engelsbergideas.com
November 10, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Reposted by Jack Dickens
wdjames.bsky.social
I've written a piece for @engelsbergideas.bsky.social on the sources of grand strategic ideas. Best enjoyed over the weekend with a brew ☕

Thanks to @jackfdickens.bsky.social, @paullay.bsky.social, and the EI team for publishing.
November 7, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Reposted by Jack Dickens
engelsbergideas.bsky.social
The key to grand strategy | @wdjames.bsky.social

engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-k...
The key to grand strategy
A close examination of the history of statecraft reveals that grand strategy works best when competing ideas collide, and rigorous processes challenge prevailing orthodoxies.
engelsbergideas.com
November 7, 2025 at 9:22 AM
Reposted by Jack Dickens
engelsbergideas.bsky.social
The eye did not always have primacy over the ear. Humanity once valued spiritual hearing over spiritual seeing.

Musica universalis | @derekturner.bsky.social

engelsbergideas.com/reviews/musi...
Musica universalis
The eye did not always have primacy over the ear. Humanity once valued spiritual hearing over spiritual seeing.
engelsbergideas.com
November 6, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Reposted by Jack Dickens
duncanweldon.bsky.social
I think I’ve been meaning to write this piece since about 2017 or 2018.
Glad to have finally done so!
November 5, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Reposted by Jack Dickens
engelsbergideas.bsky.social
Joseph Wright’s age of enlightenment | @paullay.bsky.social

engelsbergideas.com/reviews/jose...
Joseph Wright’s age of enlightenment
The English painter captured an emerging world of industry and innovation, discovery and dissemination, against the background of the Industrial Revolution.
engelsbergideas.com
November 5, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Reposted by Jack Dickens
jackfdickens.bsky.social
A brilliant essay by Duncan Weldon - why economic Goliaths don’t always win trade wars against their smaller adversaries:
November 5, 2025 at 11:32 AM
jackfdickens.bsky.social
A brilliant essay by Duncan Weldon - why economic Goliaths don’t always win trade wars against their smaller adversaries:
November 5, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Reposted by Jack Dickens
engelsbergideas.bsky.social
Trade wars are never solely about economics, as the Anglo-Irish tariff war of the 1930s reminds us.

Ireland’s David and the British Goliath | @duncanweldon.bsky.social

engelsbergideas.com/essays/irela...
Ireland's David and the British Goliath
Trade wars are never solely about economics, as the Anglo-Irish tariff war of the 1930s reminds us.
engelsbergideas.com
November 5, 2025 at 11:17 AM
Reposted by Jack Dickens
peterhowitt.bsky.social
Great article: "China does not prioritise relations with Europe, but allows ties with European countries to fluctuate as a function of external variables. There is no sign of a grand plan to wrest Europe from the American orbit... Instead, Europe is treated as an extension of America." Quite right
November 5, 2025 at 10:18 AM
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engelsbergideas.bsky.social
Ralph Adams Cram’s king of America | Christian Ruth

engelsbergideas.com/portraits/ra...
Ralph Adams Cram's king of America
The 20th-century American writer and architect was a passionate advocate for monarchy and medievalism. Echoes of his aristocratic, anti-democratic conservatism are now being revived by America's incre...
engelsbergideas.com
November 4, 2025 at 3:20 PM
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engelsbergideas.bsky.social
How the Oslo Accords unravelled | Colin Shindler

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/how...
How the Oslo Accords unravelled
The assassination in 1995 of Yitzhak Rabin was a watershed moment in the gradual disintegration of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, paving the way for greater bloodshed in the Middle East.
engelsbergideas.com
November 4, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Reposted by Jack Dickens
murielzagha.bsky.social
I wrote about One Battle After Another by film buff extraordinaire Paul Thomas Anderson for @engelsbergideas.bsky.social. Is it arthouse? Is it an action movie to be enjoyed with popcorn? Is it a state-of-the-nation film - or a bit of a jape?
October 31, 2025 at 2:53 PM
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engelsbergideas.bsky.social
Britain's intelligence networks of the First and Second World War could not have operated without the vital contributions of female agents.

Secret networks behind enemy lines | John Raine

engelsbergideas.com/reviews/secr...
Secret networks behind enemy lines
Britain's intelligence networks of the First and Second World War could not have operated without the vital contributions of female agents.
engelsbergideas.com
November 3, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Reposted by Jack Dickens
gesineweber.bsky.social
Really enjoyed this read on @engelsbergideas.bsky.social: "what does China want from Europe? The reason why this is a difficult question to answer is that Beijing doesn’t necessarily have a clear answer itself."

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/wha...
What China wants from Europe
China's activities in Europe are driven more by opportunism than any grand plot to divide the continent. In geopolitical terms, Beijing treats European countries as extensions of American power.
engelsbergideas.com
November 4, 2025 at 9:19 AM
Reposted by Jack Dickens
mpolymer1.bsky.social
Discussed my @engelsbergideas.bsky.social piece this morning on MSNBC
October 31, 2025 at 12:28 PM
Reposted by Jack Dickens
engelsbergideas.bsky.social
Paul Thomas Anderson at the movies | @murielzagha.bsky.social

engelsbergideas.com/reviews/paul...
Paul Thomas Anderson at the movies
The American director's latest film is infused with a mass of cinematic culture.
engelsbergideas.com
October 31, 2025 at 9:55 AM
Reposted by Jack Dickens
engelsbergideas.bsky.social
What China wants from Europe | @johndelury.bsky.social

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/wha...
What China wants from Europe
China's activities in Europe are driven more by opportunism than any grand plot to divide the continent. In geopolitical terms, Beijing treats European countries as extensions of American power.
engelsbergideas.com
October 31, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Reposted by Jack Dickens
engelsbergideas.bsky.social
How not to win the Nobel Peace Prize | Peter Caddick-Adams

engelsbergideas.com/essays/how-n...
How not to win the Nobel Peace Prize
President Trump's quest for the prestigious prize is unlikely to succeed for one simple reason: they are often awarded to unentitled ‘underdogs’ who express a selfless vision of a better, closer world...
engelsbergideas.com
October 30, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Reposted by Jack Dickens
engelsbergideas.bsky.social
Wonder and worry: dealing with uncertainty in contemporary history | Francis J. Gavin

engelsbergideas.com/essays/wonde...
Wonder and worry: dealing with uncertainty in contemporary history
If we live in a time of great worries, we also live in a time of great wonders, where the problems that plagued humanity from the beginning of recorded time have been improved beyond imagination.
engelsbergideas.com
October 30, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Reposted by Jack Dickens
engelsbergideas.bsky.social
Tsukumogami are beings that arise when ordinary objects gain a spirit of their own. Their moral message? Treat your possessions well.

Japan’s time of spirits | @drchrisharding.bsky.social

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/jap...
Japan's time of spirits
Tsukumogami are beings that arise when ordinary objects gain a spirit of their own. Their moral message? Treat your possessions well.
engelsbergideas.com
October 30, 2025 at 2:18 PM
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engelsbergideas.bsky.social
A crash is coming | David Roche

engelsbergideas.com/essays/a-cra...
A crash is coming
Economic bubbles abound, generated by a fatal combination of AI exuberance, reckless private credit and skyrocketing levels of sovereign debt. When they burst, a global crisis could transform the geop...
engelsbergideas.com
October 29, 2025 at 5:05 PM
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alastairbenn.bsky.social
In such an age as this, history is our wisest guide, and to neglect her is to take the short path to defeat.

My latest for @engelsbergideas.bsky.social:

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/bri...
Britain's elite needs a history lesson
At a time of crisis at home and conflict abroad, it is vital that the UK's political and media class have an historically informed understanding of their country and its institutions.
engelsbergideas.com
October 29, 2025 at 5:03 PM
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engelsbergideas.bsky.social
Britain’s elite needs a history lesson | @alastairbenn.bsky.social

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/bri...
Britain's elite needs a history lesson
At a time of crisis at home and conflict abroad, it is vital that the UK's political and media class have an historically informed understanding of their country and its institutions.
engelsbergideas.com
October 29, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Reposted by Jack Dickens
engelsbergideas.bsky.social
The Himalayan country's national archives, filled with priceless ancient manuscripts from across South Asia, have survived earthquakes and revolutions, but may yet fall prey to neglect.

Nepal’s ancient wonders | Arjuna Keshvani-Ham

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/nep...
Nepal's ancient wonders
The Himalayan country's national archives, filled with priceless ancient texts from across South Asia, have survived earthquakes and revolutions, but may yet fall prey to neglect.
engelsbergideas.com
October 29, 2025 at 11:57 AM