Origins at eHistory

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.'

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.

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.

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.

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.