Science
While eastern Muslim powers slowed scientific progress in their own region, the Christian West advanced militarily and academically.
View ArticleCompetition
European decentralization fostered the growth of political and economic competition, birthing the nation-state and the rise of capitalism.
View ArticleDiscussion: The Importance of Land Ownership
One of the United States’ democratizing characteristics has been the relatively widespread possibility of land ownership. What is the importance of land ownership today? How is this changing? Discuss....
View ArticleDiscussion: Life without Modern Medicine
How would your life be different without access to the last century of medical innovation? Discuss. “There are now diseases of which people never dreamt before, and an army of doctors is engaged in...
View ArticleDiscussion: Western Clothing
Why is Western-style clothing the most pervasive style worldwide? Discuss. “Are they dressing like us because they want to be like us? Because after all this is about much more than just clothes. It’s...
View ArticleDiscussion: Evolution of the American Work Ethic
How has the American work ethic’s image, concept, and reality changed over the past century? Discuss. “Through a mixture of hard work and thrift the Protestant societies of the North and West Atlantic...
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Map: American Expansion – U.S.A. and Gran Colombia
Both North and South American populations revolted against the exploitative, colonial rule of distant kings. Yet while the northern United States of America would go on to become the world’s wealthiest...
View ArticleBook Excerpt: Médecins sans Frontières
by Niall Ferguson Not for nothing was West Africa known as the white man’s graveyard: All over Africa the European colonial project ran the risk of being snuffed out in its infancy. A good illustration...
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Book Excerpt: Turning Western
by Niall Ferguson By 1910 the world had been economically integrated in a way never seen before. The different bonds that linked it together – railways, steamship lines and telegraphs – were almost...
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Book Excerpt: Word Ethic & Work Ethic
by Niall Ferguson If you were a wealthy industrialist living in Europe in the late nineteenth century, there was disproportionate chance that you were a Protestant. Since the Reformation, which had led...
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