(Donald A. Hempson, III ) Faced with humanitarian crises, outbreaks of civil war, and working in some of the world's most unstable places, United Nations peacekeeping missions are taxed to their limit. This month, historian Donald Hempson traces the evolution of United Nations peacekeeping over more than six decades to highlight the challenges associated with an ever more robust approach to international peacekeeping and conflict resolution. The limitations of the current model force supporters of UN peacekeeping operations to confront the hard questions of whether or not the United Nations is equipped for missions that now entail more peace implementation and enforcement than peacekeeping, especially in an environment of evermore diminishing resources and international will for prolonged and complex peacekeeping initiatives.

(Steven Hyland, Jr. ) Forty years after President Richard Nixon declared a 'war on drugs,' the countries of Central and South America remain a central battleground. Though the horrific drug violence in Mexico has captured our attention recently, the history of the trade in the region stretches back much farther. This month, historian Steven Hyland explores how illicit drugs have been one of Latin America's principal contributions to our globalized world, and how narco-trafficking has adapted to market shifts in taste and demand and global and local politics over the last century.

(James C. Helicke) Turkey�s Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, recently unveiled a plan so ambitious that even he calls it the 'Crazy Project.' The project aims to build a massive canal that will bypass the Bosporus waterway that bisects Istanbul�a rival to the Panama and Suez Canals in time for the Turkish Republic�s centennial celebrations in 2023. The new canal, Erdogan hopes, will overcome centuries of international intrigue over the Bosporus, facilitate trade, and reduce the possibility of shipping accidents through the heart of Istanbul. This month Origins Managing Editor James Helicke examines the international history surrounding the strategic waterway that has confounded sultans and statesmen. He asks if the 'Crazy Project' will solve the Bosporus dilemma once and for all, or if it is just plain folly.

(Ryan Irwin) On a fundraising trip to California in April, President Obama was confronted by protesters demanding better treatment for Pfc Bradley Manning, who has been at the center of the WikiLeaks controversy. Private Manning has been imprisoned for passing on tens of thousands of military and diplomatic documents to Wikileaks, in one of the greatest breaches of state secrecy in the history of the United States. This month, historian Ryan Irwin looks at the WikiLeaks tempest and what it tells us about America's role in the world.

(Craig D. Nelson) The devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan left the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant crippled and the world worrying about the consequences of this nuclear disaster. This month Craig Nelson looks at the long relationship the Japanese have had with nuclear power to explore the paradox of how the nation that suffered nuclear destruction in 1945 came to embrace nuclear energy so enthusiastically.

(Douglas Little ) For more than 100 years, the United States and Iran have engaged in an ambivalent relationship. Although the American and Iranian people have usually regarded each other as friends, their governments have frequently treated each other as enemies. Throughout the 20th century and into the 21st, America and Iran have butted heads over issues as diverse as oil, communism, radical Islam, and nuclear proliferation, often framing their mutual antagonism as a clash between civilization and barbarism. Yet with a new administration in Washington eager to improve U.S. relations in the Muslim world and with young men and women calling for democracy in the streets of Tehran, the old 'frenemies' may find that they have more in common than they think.

(Marc Horger) The Populists are back! Since the late 19th century, 'populist' is the name we've given to any American political movement that challenged either of the two major parties. But who are they, exactly? What does the label actually mean? And how has the meaning changed over the centuries? This month historian Marc Horger looks at the history of the term to put the current crop of populists in historical perspective.

(Steven Bryan) In October 2010, the Brazilian Finance Minister made news by claiming an 'international currency war' had broken out. The term 'currency war' promptly became a buzz phrase with commentators and public officials warning about the dangers of these wars and their historical roots in the Great Depression. The U.S. government, in turn, has applied the idea to China, which it has accused of currency manipulation for the better part of a decade. So why does this matter? And how unusual is this all? This month, historian Steven Bryan puts currency wars in historical perspective and reminds us that currency policy is inextricably linked to national interests and that manipulation is the historical norm, not the exception.

(Leslie Alexander) January 12, 2011 marks the grim one-year anniversary of the Haitian earthquake. In the past year, as Haitians have tried to rebuild from that disaster, they have suffered a cholera epidemic and flooding from Hurricane Tomas. Thousands remain homeless, buildings in ruins, and violence widespread. The political process offers little hope for relief. Haiti's recent, much-watched Presidential elections, like so many in its past, have been marred with accusations of fraud and corruption. Haiti is now arguably the most desperate nation in the Western hemisphere and among the most desperate places anywhere in the world. This month, historian Leslie Alexander puts Haiti's recent crises in a longer perspective and reminds us that historically the United States has often hindered, rather than helped, Haiti deal with its many challenges.

(David Steigerwald) Alienation. In the 1950s and '60s, this concept was used by sociologists, psychologists, pundits, and critics to explain any number of social problems. Kids were 'alienated' from their parents and from the larger society; adults were 'alienated' from their work and from their communities. It was a powerful concept and one that defined a generation of social commentary. Now, it seems, no one is alienated anymore. Historian David Steigerwald examines what happened to the notion of alienation by looking at the roots of the idea, the way it was used, and how it has disappeared from our discussion. Perfect reading for the holiday season!

(Sarah Brooks) Eight years ago, the prospect of a victory by the leftist Workers' Party candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brazil's 2002 presidential election sent shockwaves through international financial markets, prompting the IMF to step in with an emergency loan to steady the nerves of investors fearing default by a Lula government. This year, things could not be more different. President Lula da Silva is completing his second term with an 80% popularity rating, Brazil has paid off its foreign currency-denominated debt; has become a net creditor to the IMF. With the recent discovery of vast reserves of deep sea oil, and having won the chance to host both the 2016 Summer Olympics and 2014 World Cup in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil seems poised to fulfill its perennial promise of becoming the 'country of the future,' despite many challenges ahead.

(Michael J. Wishnie) This summer, Arizona's efforts to implement a controversial new local immigration statute fueled passions and mobilized all sides of the immigration debate. For the moment, the law remains in limbo after the United States filed suit and the U.S. District Court enjoined the most significant provisions of the new law. As Americans struggle to define a twenty-first century immigration policy, Yale Law Professor Michael J. Wishnie examines the long history of disagreements over immigration measures between the federal government and the states (and among the states). The history tells us, Wishnie finds, that many punitive state laws are likely to be struck down by the courts. But, the local conflicts themselves will likely pressure Congress to reform the U.S.'s antiquated immigration statutes.

(M.M. Silver) In May, when an Israeli naval raid left nine self-described peace activists dead, commentators around the globe could scarcely stop themselves from saying 'here we go again.' Reports of violence and conflict between Israel and its neighbors are such regular occurrences in the news that they can have a numbing effect: the situation seems rooted in a tortured past and destined for a hopeless future. Leaders come and go, international mediation waxes and wanes and the disputes seem no closer to resolution. Historian M. M. Silver outlines the contours of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict across the last one hundred years. He reminds us that if the conflicts are of long-standing, the solutions have also been discussed for decades as well.

(Lawrence Bowdish) As the 2010-2011 school year begins, a growing number of college students will turn to college loans to pay for their education, and as the cost of college continues to rise in the midst of the Great Recession, the size of those loans is getting bigger. When the class of 2014 graduates, they will be $22,000 in debt on average. As student loans grow in both size and importance, the American public shows greater interest in their management and government policies toward them. This month, economic historian Lawrence Bowdish investigates the history of student loans, and how the arguments around government intervention often miss the point.

(Brandy S. Thomas) Late in 2009, President Barack Obama awarded the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award to the organization Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA). While the economic and political crisis of the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe has drawn attention from around the world, the award served as a reminder that women in Zimbabwe have not only been suffering the burdens of economic meltdown but working in a variety of ways to bring political change to the country. While many people had probably never heard of WOZA when President Obama honored them, this month Brandy Thomas examines the rich history of female activism in Zimbabwe and argues that any solution to Zimbabwe's collapsing economic and political system must take groups like WOZA into account.

(Russell Field) Will the stadiums be ready? Will they be full? Will spectators and tourists be safe? These are the questions dominating media coverage as South Africa prepares to host the world's largest single-sport event, the 2010 soccer World Cup. The appearance in Africa for the first time of the highest profile competition in the world's most popular sport has people asking just what economic and social benefits sporting events offer a country, and whether hosting a month-long soccer tournament should be a high priority for the government in Pretoria. This month, historian Russell Field examines the larger racial and class debates that swirl around sport in South Africa, and the important role that sport played in the liberation movements and anti-apartheid efforts of the 1960s to 1990s. The significance of sport has not been lost on a new generation of leaders in the post-apartheid democracy. Today South Africa seeks to realize the developmental and diplomatic benefits of sport and assert their leadership of what former President Thabo Mbeki called the 'African Renaissance.'

(John Spencer) In the wake of a highly polarized battle over health care reform, Congress and the Obama Administration have begun to take up another major issue in domestic policy: reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Put forth in 2001 by the George W. Bush administration and passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, NCLB has had a powerful influence on American education, attempting to hold schools more 'accountable' for student achievement as measured by regular standardized testing. The law has been widely unpopular, especially among educators who feel it scapegoats them for the 'achievement gap' between students of different racial and social class backgrounds, yet politicans of both parties remain attracted to its main emphasis on test-driven accountability. As the debate over reauthorization gains momentum, historian John Spencer looks at how NCLB-style accountability grew out of, and at the same time ignores key lessons of, a long history of educational inequality.

(Anne Sealey) Most years and for most people flu season is an annoyance. In 2009-10, however, with the pandemic of the H1N1 influenza strain the world was reminded that this seasonal occurrence can become widespread and potentially much more dangerous. As flu season in the northern hemisphere winds down, historian Ann Sealey looks at influenza pandemics past and present to explore how our responses to flu have changed over time. Which lessons we draw from the past, Sealey reminds us, will condition how we respond to the next great flu pandemic.

(Nicholas Breyfogle) For several years now, Australia, the driest inhabited continent, has been suffering perhaps the worst drought in its recorded history. Amidst disappearing rivers and empty dams, farmers have watched their fields go barren and their livestock perish, while urban dwellers face greater and greater restrictions on water use. Terrible wildfires have swept through the country, scorching millions of acres of land. The drought is challenging Australians' very idea of who they are as a people and their faith in the future. Australia is hardly alone with these problems, as much of the globe struggles with insufficient, polluted, oversubscribed, and increasingly expensive water. How successfully Australia responds to its current water woes will offer an important road map for others around the world. This month historian Nicholas Breyfogle puts the current Australian drought into historical perspective.

(Chris Otter) It is one of the most striking paradoxes of our time. Today, more people around the world go hungry than ever before in human history. At the same time, even more people are now classified as obese - part of what observers are calling an overweight 'epidemic' and health crisis. This month, historian Chris Otter explores the history of how we have chosen to produce, distribute, consume, and think about food to explain how we have arrived at these extremes of feast and famine.

(Steven Conn) 2009 was celebrated around the world as 'The Darwin Year.' It marked the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his landmark On the Origin of Species. While Darwin's theory of natural selection caused considerable controversy at the time, his ideas are now accepted as the foundation of all the modern biological sciences. With the festivities winding down, this month historian Steven Conn looks back on Darwin's history in the United States -- the only developed country where Darwin denial is still widespread -- to look at the strange career Darwin has had in this country.

(Paula Fass) It was a strange and haunting coincidence. Jaycee Dugard was rescued from the husband and wife who kidnapped her 18 years ago in California at virtually the same moment Elizabeth Smart confronted her kidnapper in a Utah courtroom. Once again, the nation was riveted by the phenomenon of child kidnapping. As historian Paula Fass describes, child abduction, and our reactions to it, have a long history in the United States. This month she puts kidnapping in historical perspective.

(Theodora Dragostinova) For those in the former Soviet Bloc, 1989 has been called an annus mirabilis -- a year of miracles. With astonishing speed, communist rule ended in Eastern Europe, the Berlin Wall came tumbling down, and the nature of Europe was changed entirely. In 2009, those countries, from Germany to Bulgaria to Poland, have all mounted celebrations of the twentieth anniversary of this hope-filled year. Yet, two decades after the collapse of communism, many in those countries found themselves unsure of what, precisely, they were celebrating. Did 1989 really mark a moment of out-with-the-old-and-in-with-the-new, and how much had really changed in the intervening years? This month historian Theodora Dragostinova explores the impact of 1989 on the region and the legacy of history in today's Eastern Europe.

(Mytheli Sreenivas) As the population of the globe surges past 6 billion, India is on the verge of surpassing China as the world's most populous nation. For at least two centuries India has struck many Westerners as a place that is over-populated, famine-prone, and, as a result, a threat to global stability. In fact, as historian Mytheli Sreenivas details, the question of 'over-population' is a relative one: is India producing too many people or too few resources? Does a growing population represent an opportunity or a danger? These questions take on a new urgency and relevance as India emerges as a major economic power and consumer society, and as the world confronts an ongoing food crisis. This month, Sreenivas puts these pressing concerns about population in historical perspective.

(Peter R. Mansoor) Renewed American efforts to 'win' the war in Afghanistan against a resurgent Taliban, as well as the ongoing war in Iraq, have kept the question of counterinsurgency strategy at the forefront of U.S. military and public life. This month, Peter R. Mansoor--a professor of history at Ohio State and a Colonel, U.S. Army (Retired) who served most recently as the executive officer to General David Petraeus, the Commanding General of Multi-National Force-Iraq--examines the historical patterns of counterinsurgency doctrine. He explores the lessons of the Iraq War for Afghanistan and the radical changes to U.S. strategy of the last few years.

(Scott Levi) In April of this year, a group of some 300 women protesters demanded that the government in Kabul repeal a repressive new law that went so far as to permit marital rape. They were publicly harassed and labeled 'whores'. Around the world, many observers were outraged. The law seemed to signal a return to the kinds of policies that the Taliban had instituted when it ruled Afghanistan - when the burqa stood as a haunting symbol of the regime's subjugation of women. While visitors to the country commonly report encountering a land somehow 'lost in time' where women are almost completely absent from the public world, this month historian Scott Levi examines the century-long efforts to improve women's lives in Afghanistan.

(Donald A. Hempson) Rising from the ashes of the Second World War, the European Union has been perhaps the most important development in modern European history. Initially, it only included those countries we think of as 'Western Europe.' Since the collapse of the Soviet empire, however, membership in the EU has expanded dramatically and rapidly and now includes some 27 nations. This has created not simply logistical complications, but a debate over what 'European' means. This month, historian Donald Hempson looks at two recent joiners -- The Czech Republic (which recently held the EU's rotating presidency) and Slovakia (which recently adopted the Euro currency) -- and how their histories have defined their approaches to European integration.

(Sebastien Peyrouse) With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 five new nations gained independence in Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. When they emerged onto the world stage they were little understood in the West, often confused with one another, and the subject of jokes on late-night TV. Increasingly, however, these nations demand our attention, whether because of the oil and gas resources in the region, because of the environmental crises -- most dramatically the disappearance of the Aral Sea -- and because of the strategic location between Russia, China and Afghanistan.

(Andrew J. Carlson) In the first week of April, Somali pirates raided an American-flagged ship in the Indian Ocean and took the captain hostage. It was only one of several raids along the Somali coast in a 48 hour period. In recent months and years, pirates have made the Horn of Africa the most dangerous place to navigate in the world. This month, historian Andy Carlson examines the very long history of piracy in the region, and explores how the political problems of Somalia as a 'failed state' have contributed to the current wave of maritime brigandage.

(Kevin Boyle) No city in America has had its fortunes tied to the rise and fall of the manufacturing economy more than Detroit. Home to the American auto industry, symbol of post-war prosperity, Detroit now stands as a synonym for urban decline. This month historian and Detroit native Kevin Boyle gives us a very personal meditation on the city and puts his own experience of growing up in Detroit in historical perspective.

(Stephanie Coontz) The controversy that still swirls over California's Proposition 8 has kept the issue of same-sex marriage squarely in the national spotlight. For those who oppose gay marriage, allowing same-sex couples the same legal rights as heterosexual couples amounts to nothing less than a revolution in the institution of marriage and the family. This month, historian Stephanie Coontz puts the desire for same-sex marriage into some intriguing historical perspective. She demonstrates that heterosexual couples instigated the real revolution in marriage--the idea that two individuals should be able to choose their partners based on love, sexual attraction, and mutual interests. Gays and lesbians have simply followed suit.

(Edin Hajdarpasic and Emil Kerenji) With its unilateral - and highly controversial - declaration of independence from Serbia on February 17, 2008, the former Yugoslavian territory of Kosovo joined the ranks of the world's sovereign states. Currently recognized by only 53 U.N. member nations, and opposed by Russia, the unsettled fate of Kosovo now sits with the International Court of Justice, which has been asked rule on the legality of its split from Serbia. This month, to mark the one-year anniversary, historians Edin Hajdarpasic and Emil Kerenji explore the roots of the conflicts that led to Kosovo's separation and evaluate the future prospects for this fledgling state.

(Ahmad A. Sikainga) Since 2003, the Darfur region of western Sudan has been the site of terrible violence, death, and displacement; what the United States has labelled 'genocide.' Despite what is currently the world's largest relief operation, efforts to calm the conflict and assist the approximately five million Darfurians suffering ongoing deprivation have produced precious few results. With no end in sight for the turmoil, Ahmad Sikainga, a native of Sudan and Professor of History at the Ohio State University, explores the origins and current status of the Darfur conflict.

(Patricia Weitsman ) It has become a truism of American foreign policy that the United States should undertake military action in coalition with other nations. Under the administrations of both Bushes and Bill Clinton, American diplomats worked hard to broker military cooperation from other nations around the world. The benefits of such coalitions would seem obvious, but in next month's essay political scientist Patty Weitsman explores the costs of fighting in coalition, and comes to some startling conclusions.

(Mitchell Lerner) The Bush administration's controversial October 2008 decision to take North Korea off the list of state sponsors of terrorism, in an effort to keep Pyongyang's nuclear program halted, opens a new chapter in the history of North Korea's international relations. Nuclear proliferation is worrisome anywhere in the world, but particularly coming from secretive, unpredictable, and, for many analysts around the world, incomprehensible North Korea. Water Mondale once declared 'anyone who claims to be an expert on North Korea is either a liar or a fool.' This month, Mitchell Lerner, a professor of history at Ohio State, braves being called one or the other. He offers insight into how policy is formed in North Korea and what drives its seemingly fickle relations with the rest of the world.

(Stephen F. Jones ) The brief war in Georgia in August 2008 has ushered in a new era in international relations -- although likely not the "new cold war" that so many analysts have rushed to declare. In this month's article, Stephen F. Jones, one of the world's foremost specialists on Georgia, explores the origins of this summer's fighting. The war's main protagonists -- Georgians, Ossetians, Abkhaz, and Russians -- have had a long and tangled history, made worse by the swirling nationalism that accompanied the break-up of the Soviet Union, the promise of free-flowing petrodollars, and Russia's international resurgence.

(Bruce Kuklick ) With the campaign for the November election at full throttle, candidates will be working hard to persuade voters that their vision for the future is better than their opponents. This month historian Bruce Kuklick offers a provocative and counter-intiutive way to think about the upcoming election. In this thought-piece, Kuklick argues that rather than being about the future of the nation, elections must be about the past.

(Mansel Blackford) Not too long ago, we viewed the oceans as an inexhaustible resource. Now, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Baltic, from the Mediterranean to the South China Sea we find our oceans struggling, in some cases dying, from pollution, global climate change, and over-fishing. This month, Ohio State historian Mansel Blackford discusses the problem of collapsing fish stocks. Looking at the very different histories of two American fisheries, he explores how best to manage our ocean resources.

(Alfred Senn) The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games have already generated a great deal of political controversy around the world. Protesters have used the Olympic torch relay as a stage from which to protest China's human rights record, and in response Chinese activists have denounced the protests. This month, historian Al Senn of the University of Wisconsin -- the foremost American historian of the Olympics -- reminds us that the Olympics are no stranger to politics and he puts these current controversies in historical context.

(David Watt) Ernest Hemingway and George Orwell both described the way politics and war involve the struggle over the control of language. They remind us that language shapes in powerful and subtle ways the way we understand and respond to politics and military crises. In the spirit of these writers, David Watt examines the term 'muslim fundamentalist' to ask whether it is useful in describing the current political and cultural landscape or whether it obscures as much as it clarifies.