The relationship between history and current affairs is a complex one. Historians tend to agree that looking to the past for definitive ‘lessons’ is a problematic and potentially misleading approach, however a relationship between the past and present clearly does exist. In this assignment, you will be required to research and reflect upon this dynamic. You will do so by critically analysing a particular piece of scholarly writing on the topic, and using this as the basis to answer one of the questions listed.
The task
Select one of the readings below (although reading all of them will be helpful in completing this assessment). Complete the following two-part assessment.
Part 1
Write a 1,500 word critical analysis of your chosen reading.
In this piece you should provide a brief summary of the key arguments, and then use your own knowledge and other readings to reflect critically on the argument put forward. You may wish to consider how the author’s argument compares to other works in the field, the methodology they have used, what source material they have drawn upon, and whether they have omitted any relevant issues.
Part 2
Following on from your critical analysis, write a 1,500 word essay on one of the following questions:
What are the shortcomings and dangers of adopting an historical perspective on contemporary events?
How does collective historical memory influence current debates on international affairs?
To what extent are modern concepts of counter-insurgency derived from practices of imperial and colonial rule?
What are some of the challenges and opportunities of integrating military innovation studies with history?
What can the study of conflict history teach us about socio-political change?
To what extent is the concept of historical remembrance useful when seeking to understand the changing commemoration of war?
In what ways can historical sources limit the questions that can be asked about the commemoration of war?
Your completed assignment will, therefore, be presented in two parts within the same document. The first part will consist of a 1,500 word critical analysis, the second a 1,500 word essay. These assignments may refer to each other, but you may not use words from one section to address the question posed in the other.
Readings
Select one of the following readings. You can access these readings from the ‘Reading list’ link in the Quick Access block.
Michael Howard, “The Use and Abuse of Military History,” RUSI Journal 107 (1962): 4–10.
Williamson Murray, “Thoughts on military history and the profession of arms.” In The Past as Prologue: The Importance of History to the Military Profession, edited by W. Murray and R. Hart Sinnreich (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), 78–92.
M. MacMillan and P. Quinton-Brown, “The uses of history in international society: from the Paris peace conference to the present,” International Affairs 95, No. 1 (Jan 2019), 181–200.
Hew Strachan, “Strategy: Change and Continuity”, in The Direction of War: Contemporary Strategy in Historical Perspective (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013), 253–82.
David Stevenson, “Learning from the past: the relevance of international history,” International Affairs 90, No. 1 (Jan, 2014), 5–22.
T. Barkawi and S. Brighton, “Brown Britain: post-colonial politics and grand strategy,” International Affairs 89, no. 5 (Sept 2013), 1109–23.
