Invasion: The Use and Abuse of Comparative History

Discussion of the situation in the United States today and that of empires in the past.

How do we use history:? In recent years scholars and pundits from all points on the political compass have delighted in drawing parallels between the situation of the United States today and that of empires in the past, an exercise that has been stimulated above all else by the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Indeed that invasion has raised genuine questions about the use of military force, and the use of parallels drawn from the past to both justify and predict the course of events.

The event is co-sponsored by the Department of Comparative Literature and Contexts for Classics (CFC).