Marc-William Palen
History Department, University of Exeter
Follow on Twitter/X @MWPalen

From how to define a war crime to shipping’s shadow world, here are this week’s top picks in imperial and global history.

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How do you define a war crime?

Gideon Rachman and Boyd van Dijk
FT Podcast

Gideon discusses the history of international humanitarian law since the first world war with Boyd van Dijk, a historian at Oxford university and author of a recent book, Preparing for War – The Making of the Geneva Conventions. They discuss current efforts to prevent war crimes and hold leaders engaged in conflict to account. [click here to listen]

Foreign Office: Former diplomats lead call to replace ‘elitist’ department

James Landale
BBC

The Foreign Office should be abolished and replaced by a new Department for International Affairs with “fewer colonial era pictures on the wall”, a group of former senior diplomats and officials has said. They have written a pamphlet proposing radical reform of UK foreign policy. They say the Foreign Office is elitist, “rooted in the past” and “struggling to deliver a clear mandate”. In response, the department said it had clearly defined priorities.

The group of former officials say the new department should have a broader remit that promotes Britain’s prosperity and security by better coordinating strategy on trade and aid, development and climate change – as well as traditional foreign policy. The authors say this would be better able to deliver on Britain’s long-term international objectives. Parliament should give the new department “core objectives and mandates” that “endure beyond the tenure of individual ministers” to avoid repeated short term policy change, the authors say. [continue reading]

Global Black Thought: A New Academic Journal

AAIHS Editors
Black Perspectives

GLOBAL BLACK THOUGHT, the official journal of AAIHS, is devoted to the study of the Black intellectual tradition. The journal publishes original, innovative, and thoroughly researched essays on Black ideas, theories, and intellectuals in the United States and throughout the African diaspora. GLOBAL BLACK THOUGHT will feature historically based contributions by authors in diverse fields of study throughout the humanities and social sciences.

While steeped in historical methodologies, GLOBAL BLACK THOUGHT is an interdisciplinary journal informed by scholarship in Africana studies, feminist theory, and critical race theory. The journal welcomes submissions that feature original research and innovative methods. We also extend an invitation to scholars working outside the United States. [continue reading]

French lawmakers condemn 1961 Paris massacre of Algerians

Le Monde with AFP

France’s Assemblée Nationale on Thursday, March 28, approved a resolution condemning as “bloody and murderous repression” the killing by Paris police of dozens of Algerians in a crackdown on a 1961 protest to support Algerian independence. The bill, put forward by Green lawmaker Sabrina Sebaihi and ruling Renaissance party MP Julie Delpech, was approved by 67 lawmakers, with 11 against.

Dozens of peaceful demonstrators died during a crackdown by Paris police on a protest by Algerians in 1961. The scale of the massacre was covered up for decades by French authorities before President Emmanuel Macron condemned it as “inexcusable” in 2021. [continue reading]

Shipping’s Shadow World

Vanessa Ogle
NY Review of Books

In the early morning hours of March 26, emergency workers in Baltimore received a mayday call from the Dali, a 985-foot container ship. Shortly after setting sail from the city’s port, the vessel had lost power, and with it control over its engine and navigation instruments. It was on course to hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge, an important artery for commuters and goods that spans the Patapsco River. Minutes after the call, the Dali struck one of the bridge’s pylons, causing the whole structure to collapse. First responders managed to close the bridge, but six construction workers who were filling potholes on the road, all immigrants from Central America, are presumed dead. Now one of America’s busiest ports is closed. Rebuilding the bridge will take years.

The Baltimore bridge crash is a global story. The Dali was on its way to Sri Lanka with a cargo of around 4,700 containers, including some with hazardous materials. It was chartered to the Danish shipping giant Maersk, flew the flag of Singapore, and was managed by the Singaporean company Synergy Marine. Its owner, the Singapore-based entity Grace Ocean Private Limited, is in turn a subsidiary of Grace Ocean Investment Limited, registered in the British Virgin Islands. [continue reading]