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Academic perspectives from Cambridge University Press

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How a post-fascist state model emerged in Cold War Latin America inspired by Francisco Franco’s Spain

During the 1960s and 1970s, most Latin American republics saw their democratic systems ousted by ruthless military dictatorships. Whether in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, or Uruguay, these regimes...

Daniel Gunnar Kressel | 24 Nov 2025

AI Language Technologies are Powerful—But Not Without Limits

Imagine waking up in the morning. You read your emails with the morning coffee and use Gmail’s autocomplete feature to compile the answers. Before leaving the house, you ask Siri for the weather forecast,...

Vered Shwartz | 24 Nov 2025

Flags and Nationalism, Then and Now

Any resident of the United Kingdom will have undoubtedly noticed the proliferation of St George’s Crosses and Union flags of late. Whereas I used to see a few such flags on my drive to work – often...

Patrick J. Doyle | 24 Nov 2025

Great Power Interventions: Still Predictable in an Unpredictable World

Even as global politics feels increasingly chaotic, the behavior of the world’s leading powers remains strikingly predictable. New research shows that when great powers intervene abroad, they do so...

David S. Siroky, Milos Popovic, Erin K. Jenne | 21 Nov 2025

Violines: Fugitive Black Religious Music of Cuba

I have been writing about Cuban music and popular culture for some time, as an outsider. It is a fraught position: being based in the United States, strongly attracted to Cuban heritage, trying to undertake...

Robin D. Moore | 21 Nov 2025

A History of Music in the Czech Lands

The idea of the “Czech lands” has never been simple. These regions have carried many titles in various languages throughout history and sometimes held radically different meanings, including “the...

Kelly St. Pierre | 20 Nov 2025

Lend me your ears

In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Marc Antony famously begins his funeral oration by exclaiming, “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.” This is an elegant way of asking for...

Kent Lehnhof | 19 Nov 2025

Escaping Justice: Why States Still Get Away with Human Rights Violations

Two enduring truths shape the study of human rights. First, states violate the rights of their own citizens at an alarmingly high rate. Second, these same states are rarely held accountable for their...

Cyanne E. Loyle | 19 Nov 2025

Following the (imperfect) evidence on suicide prevention

Catherine Robinson, Murad Khan and I have edited a new book on suicide prevention. Does the world need it when there already loads of books on suicide? We think so. Many academics in mental health...

Rob Poole | 19 Nov 2025

The Maddeningly Beautiful Legacy of Lucia di Lammermoor

Gaetano Donizetti’s 1835 tragic opera Lucia di Lammermoor is known for a lot of things: its Scottish setting, its beautiful bel canto melodies, its tale of forbidden love and a final lover’s...

Mark A. Pottinger | 19 Nov 2025

Trump’s Challenges to the Law of War

In a high-profile address to US generals earlier this week, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth declared, “We don’t fight with stupid rules of engagement. We untie the hands of our war fighters to intimidate,...

Thomas Gift | 18 Nov 2025

The Autumnal Experience of Work in Early Modern England

Autumn is most definitely here: leaves crunch underfoot; the air is crisp and cool; pumpkin and apple spices waft from the coffee shops. But while the season brings many changes, it does not alter work...

Taylor Aucoin | 18 Nov 2025