The Board of Trustees of the Society for Military History has approved the following statement of protest regarding the recent closure of public access to the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).

This is such a huge loss. I genuinely couldn’t have written two of my books without access to DTIC.

Amy J. Rutenberg@amyjay401.bsky.social · last mo.

Military history and adjacent folks, public access to DTIC has been discontinued. This is an incredible loss to anyone who studies the US military 🗃️ @modamhist.bsky.social @oah.org @afssage.bsky.social @warontherocks.bsky.social @taskandpurpose.com #milhist

Really enjoyed writing this article for the Oxford Research Encyclopaedia of Military History, even though I ended up reading way more du Picq in the process than I had expected academic.oup.com/edited-volum...

Indoctrination and Motivation

Abstract. For most people, fighting is an unnatural act. Militaries have long worked to ensure that their personnel would endure military service and, when

academic.oup.com

Really enjoyed writing this article for the Oxford Research Encyclopaedia of Military History, even though I ended up reading way more du Picq in the process than I had expected academic.oup.com/edited-volum...

Indoctrination and Motivation

Abstract. For most people, fighting is an unnatural act. Militaries have long worked to ensure that their personnel would endure military service and, when

academic.oup.com

I'm super biased, but this is a banger of a book (as academic edited collections go, anyway). Check out the amazing scholars who contributed to it and the nice thing reviewers have said here: kansaspress.ku.edu/9780700643530/. And while you're there, consider pre-ordering with the discount below. 🗃️

I have written about „Railway Construction and the Labour Question in German Southwest Africa, 1903–1909“ arguing that construction comp. used two key strategies to meet the central problem of labour scarcity: forcing concentration camp prisoners to work and tapping transimperial labour networks.

Forced Labour and Transimperial Connections: Railway Construction and the Labour Question in German Southwest Africa, 1903–1909

Abstract. The colonial project required the construction of infrastructure both to integrate overseas territories into the global economy and to make colon

academic.oup.com

New article! Jay Roszman @jayroszman.bsky.social on 'An O’Connellite Empire? Irish Nationalism, British Imperial Trouble, and the Limits of Anti-Imperialism in the Age of Reform' academic.oup.com/ehr/advance-...

An O’Connellite Empire? Irish Nationalism, British Imperial Trouble, and the Limits of Anti-Imperialism in the Age of Reform*

Abstract. This article explores the way Irish nationalists in the 1830s and 1840s understood and condemned British imperial policy in times of trouble, whi

academic.oup.com

I don't understand the point of this comment. Because from where I'm sitting, it is actually not a Good Thing for a world class university--situated in a democracy that is frequently at war, where a disproportionate number of future policy makers are educated--to NOT teach military history.

Kevin M. Kruse@kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 9mo ago

We don’t teach military history at Princeton. For a while Jim McPherson and John Murrin did a great “war and society” course, but even then it was a seminar with a dozen students.

I recently had the strange (but not unpleasant) experience of publishing a piece in Military Review, the outlet that was an important primary source for my PhD research a long time ago. www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Mil...

My latest this AM with @warontherocks.bsky.social. Of note: "[Military officers] will be active participants with choices to make about the degree to which they continue to serve civilians intent on undermining the liberal values enshrined in the Constitution." 1/ warontherocks.com/2025/12/the-...

The Soldier in the Illiberal State is a Professional Dead End

The American political system today is indeed in crisis. Government function is in doubt, the administration has politicized and weaponized a previously

warontherocks.com

Calling all historians of US foreign relations. @shafrhistorians.bsky.social

Dr Hannah Murray@hlmurray.bsky.social · 10mo ago

RED ALERT: the University of Nottingham is threatening to close its Department of American Studies, putting all staff at risk of redundancy, and ending any American specialist knowledge in the Faculty of Arts. Sign the petition here to save jobs: www.change.org/p/save-ameri...

There’s the joke about Sun Tzu being basic instructions for idiots like “feed your troops” but the most important part of Clausewitz is also just “think about what you are actually trying to accomplish”

brasidas@brasidas.bsky.social · 11mo ago

What I love about our habit of confusing Means for Ways is that we also confuse Ways for Ends. Innovation is entirely neutral.

A nice job has opened in my department at Cambridge: Assistant Prof. in US History since 1920. Please share widely! No references letters required up front. Applications close 27 Oct. 2025.🗃️ www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/assista...

I spoke to the Irish Times for this very good and rounded piece on the real-world effects of C***GPT in the humanities classroom: www.irishtimes.com/ireland/educ...

‘It’s a monster’: How generative AI is forcing university professors to rethink learning

As students turn to ChatGPT, educators warn that critical thinking, academic integrity and the future of the humanities are at stake

irishtimes.com

Shameless self-promotion and all of that, but it is genuinely unsettling to see how some of the most cartoonish ideas that I came across while writing the book have turned into actual policy.

Amy J. Rutenberg@amyjay401.bsky.social · last yr.

The seeds that are currently bearing fruit in a Department of War focused on “maximum lethality” rather than “tepid legality” were planted in 1990s. Time for more folks to read David Fitzgerald’s excellent Uncertain Warriors #milhist #civmil www.cambridge.org/core/books/u...

maybe 10% of the current crop of GOFOs legitimately understand that the US public's default position towards the military historically is somewhere between ambivalence and dislike, and that the last several decades have been different because a variety of institutions made efforts to change it

An excerpt in @foreignpolicy.com from Andrew Preston's superb new book, Total Defense: The New Deal and the Invention of National Security. foreignpolicy.com/2025/05/30/f...

How FDR Invented National Security

A presidential speech in 1937 marked an unexpected turn in U.S. strategic thought.

foreignpolicy.com

Not your dad’s WW2–find out more in this interview I did recently and get 50% off the book at the same time 🥳

Bethany Wasik@bethanywasik.bsky.social · last yr.

"This summer marks the 80th anniversary of the 'official' end of WWII, but in 'The Greater Second World War,' the war’s timeline is extended back to 1931 and into the mid-1950s." news.cornell.edu/stories/2025... Hint: Get 50% off w/code 095000 this week: www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...

It was great to catch up with @ceceliacancellaro.bsky.social but also really cool to see my book out in the wild again!

Cecelia Cancellaro@ceceliacancellaro.bsky.social · last yr.

Great to catch up with @davidfitzgerald.bsky.social at #SHAFR2025 and honored to be his publisher @shafrhistorians.bsky.social

The spicier take is while this will never happen, there objectively should be an investigation into what unauthorized/unknown to the rest of DoD/the executive communications CENTCOM was having off the books with the Israeli government, because suffice to say I have my suspicions

Mike Black@mikeblack114.bsky.social · last yr.

Not joking about this by the way, this is a war that was 100% cooked up in Tampa and is 100% illegal

Never thought that writing a piece years ago on the post-Gulf War parades would be of contemporary relevance, but here we are.

University College Cork@ucc.ie · last yr.

How Trump’s military parade compared to others around the globe Around the world, parades tell national stories, @davidfitzgerald.bsky.social, specialist in American military and foreign policy, says.

I hate when my historical research is relevant. The GI Rights Hotline has a history going back to before its 1994 founding by a network of peace activists after the Gulf War. GI counseling has been a cornerstone of peace activism since the Vietnam War. Some of the same ppl are still doing it. 🗃️

Melody Lee Lacy@melodyleelacy.bsky.social · last yr.

Dr Reich, to stop this mess, Service Members need to know that they have rights and they are required to disobey illegal orders. GI Rights Hotline dot Org girightshotline.org

OK, I know more about the CA case and we have more information on the deployments coming out, so a few thoughts. 1. This is a massive overreach of POTUS authority. Using Section 12406 to federalize/deploy military forces w/out also invoking the Insurrection Act is literally unprecedented. 1/

Friends, followers, and colleagues: some professional news, as they say. After four wonderful years with the US Army War College, I resigned my position effective May 2, 2025. 1/

Utterly disgraceful and an open assault on the historical profession. These are utterly professional, non-partisan advisors, overseeing and giving advice to the State department on the declassification of US government documents.

Elizabeth N. Saunders@profsaunders.bsky.social · last yr.

Unhappy to confirm that the entire Historical Advisory Committee at the State Department received termination notices this afternoon (myself included). The HAC, set up by Congress, oversees the office that produces the FRUS series. history.state.gov/about/hac/in... 1/

Took a while, but the ad is also now up on an actual jobs website! www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DMV502/l...

Lecturer in International Economic History at University College Cork

Discover Lecturer in International Economic History jobs and more in higher education on jobs.ac.uk. Apply for further details on the top job board.

jobs.ac.uk

David Fitzgerald@davidfitzgerald.bsky.social · last yr.

Job alert! My dept is hiring a lecturer in international economic history. This a permanent, full-time post and it's (hopefully) a really good time to be joining the School of History here. Very happy to chat with anyone about the role, UCC, or life in Cork in general. 🗃️ www.ucc.ie/en/future-hu...

ICYMI, Team #MilitaryHistory - the stellar volume edited expertly by Andrew Buchanan and Ruth Lawlor, "The Greater Second World War: Global Perspectives," has reached its publication date! Head to @cornellupress.bsky.social's page to get one. I'll wait... www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...

wow the US Army now has officially less understanding of and care for their soldiers' morale & wellbeing than the Italian army of 1918! way to go, guys! happy to sell Pete Hegseth a copy of my book to explain why this is Not Smart but it might have too many long words for him to understand

Waitman Wade Beorn, PhD, FRHistS@waitmanwbeorn.com · last yr.

Fuck them soldiers...and also ping pong.