How does history help to understand the contemporary world? What impact do political, economic, geography and ideological desiderata have on the scientific enterprise? What are the similarities between such seemingly different states as the US under Trump and Russia under Putin in managing geopolitical strategies and domestic cultural, media, and another institutions? For example, why do Trump and Putin so fear an autonomous scientific enterprise? These essays address those questions.
AI and Pornography
“The Dangers of Big Business AI Pornography,” with Viktoriya Zakrevskaya, Common Dreams, March 28, 2026.
Hegseth’s Holy Christian War
“Pete Hegseth’s Holy War.” Common Dreams, March 20, 2026.
Military Madman
“The Military Madman of Mar-a-Lago.” Common Dreams, March 6, 2026. https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-start-6-wars
Trump: Faux Prizes
“A New Raft of Trump Awards™, Buildings, and Lifetime Achievements,” Common Dreams, February 28, 2026.
Gestapo Comes to America
“Trump’s Gestapo Hits the Streets,” Common Dreams, February 3, 2026.
Don the Orange Conquers Greenland
“The Saga of Donald the Orange: Would-Be Conqueror of Greenland,” Common Dreams, January 20, 2026.
War and Oil
“The war for oil never really went away,” Engelsberg Ideas, January 12, 2026, at https://engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the-war-for-oil-never-really-went-away/
A New Nuclear Arms Race
“Sommes-nous entrés dans une nouvelle course aux armes nucléaires?” Le Grand Continent, January 11, 2026.
Trump’s Failing School Report Card
“Donald Trump’s First Year Report Card Made Public: D+,” Common Dreams, December 28, 2025.
Competition for African Strategic Minerals
“Why the West is missing out on Africa’s minerals,” with Viktoriya Zakrevskaya, Engelsberg Ideas, October 8, 2025.
Project 2025 and Totalitarianism
“Totalitarian Rule Is Here: Project 2025 Nine Months Along,” Common Dreams, September 10, 2025.
Trump’s Culture Wars
“Les guerres culturelles de Donald J. Trump: un tournant soviétique de la Maison-Blanche?” Le Grand Continent, July 18, 2025.
Gerontocrats Rule
“The rise of the gerontocrats,” Engelsberg Ideas, June 4, 2025.
Bobby Kennedy is a Eugenist and Ableist
“Bobby Kennedy Jr. Makes Eugenics Great Again at Health and Human Services,” Common Dreams, May 17, 2025.
American and Russia Fight for Ukraine’s Nuclear Power Plants
“Géopolitique de Zaporijia: Trump et le chantage nucléaire en Ukraine,” Le Grand Continent, April 9, 2025.
“Трамп – атомний перемовник? Або навіщо США Запорізька АЕС,” MIND, May 8, 2025.
Global Competition for Strategic Minerals
“The new great power competition for minerals,” Engelsberg Ideas, April 3,2025.
Totalitarian Science in the White House
“Totalitarian Science in the White House,” Common Dreams, March 12, 2025.
How an Expat See’s a Failing America
“A Mainer’s view of Trump’s America from Europe,” Bangor Daily News, March 15, 2025.
Israel’s Environmental War on Palestine
“An Environmental “Nakba”: Water, Trees, and Farms as Tools of Israeli Policy Toward Palestine,” Origins, March 2025.
Russia’s Dangerous Control Over Global Nuclear Markets
“Russia’s global grip on nuclear energy,” Engelsberg Ideas, February 3, 2025.
Urban Flooding
“Cities Under Water: Valencia, Spain, and Urban Flooding,” Seeing the Woods, January 2025. Also published as “Un ‘Tsunami de Barro’: Valencia, España, y la Crecidente Epidemia de Inundaciones Urbanas,” ABACO, vol. 4 (2024), no. 122: 70-79.
Russia Militarizes the Arctic
“The Deep Historical Roots of Russia’s Militarisation of the Arctic,” Engelsberg Ideas, October 9, 2024.
How Green is the Atom?
“How Green Is the Atom? The Past–and Future–of Nuclear Energy in the United States,” Origins, July 2024.
Putin’s Secret Police Arrest Scientists
“Russia’s Century of Scientific Autarky,” Engelsberg Ideas, June 21, 2024.
Putin Fails in Natural Disasters
“Russia: Nation of Floods,” Engelsberg Ideas, April 17, 2024.
Russia is a Nuclear Outlaw
“Putin’s Russia is a Nuclear Outlaw,” Engelsberg Ideas, February 26, 2024, Also published in Ukraine as “путінська росія – ядерний злочинець. Вона перетворила мирний атом на зброю,” InfoAtom News, March 1, 2024.
Big Technology and State Powetr in Russia
“Puissance de Poutine: les projets colossaux et la continuité de l’Empire,” Le Grande Continent, February 28, 2024.
Russia Destroys the Dnipro to Serve its War
“Rivers as Battlefields: Ukraine’s Dnipro,” Springs: The Rachel Carson Center Review, no. 4 (October 2023).
Sakharov and Oppenheimer: In Film and Life
“Sakharov and Oppenheimer: twin triumphs and tragedies,” Engelsberg Ideas, August 8, 2023.
Russian Military Stategy: Scorched Earth
“The deep historical roots of Russia’s scorched earth policy,” Englesberg Ideas, June 23, 2023.
Alexander Leipunsky: The Man Who Loved Plutonium
“Alexander Leipunsky — the nuclear physicist who brought plutonium to the masses,” Engelsberg Ideas, November 17, 2022.