Homepage
Open in app
Sign in
Get started
Project 500 Years
Tracking, actually, 600-plus years of the West’s domination of world
About
1520-1599
Musings
1600-1649
1650-1699
Follow
A postcard from the 20th century
A postcard from the 20th century
Writing and publishing a printed and bound book is like sending a postcard into the future. (Just possibly, releasing digital materials has…
Helena Cobban
Apr 26
European empires competing in 16th-century East Asia
European empires competing in 16th-century East Asia
In 1511 CE, Portugal became the first of the European empires to establish a presence in East Asia. That was the year in which conquistador…
Helena Cobban
Feb 8
Quakers and settler colonialism before William Penn
Quakers and settler colonialism before William Penn
Last week, I wrote three blog posts about the involvement of Quakers in various phases of the White-supremacist settler-colonial project…
Helena Cobban
Jan 14
White settlers with “good intentions”
White settlers with “good intentions”
Earlier this week, I wrote about some of the activities undertaken by the Indian Affairs Committee of the Baltimore Society of Friends…
Helena Cobban
Jan 8
Baltimore Quakers & westward expansion in the early United States
Baltimore Quakers & westward expansion in the early United States
On Monday, I wrote about the involvement of Quakers in William Penn’s settler-colonial project in Turtle Island in the 17th century CE…
Helena Cobban
Jan 5
My January Syndrome strikes again…
My January Syndrome strikes again…
On Friday, I sent out an “institutional” email blast on behalf of Just World Educational, the non-profit educational org that I founded in…
Helena Cobban
Jan 4
Columbus and the quest for a ‘Jewish safe haven’
Columbus and the quest for a ‘Jewish safe haven’
In 1972, the Holocaust survivor, celebrated Nazi-hunter, and ardent Zionist Simon Wiesenthal published a book in German titled Segel der…
Helena Cobban
Sep 30, 2021
Columbus in Context
Columbus in Context
Christopher Columbus was born in the bustling north-Italian port city of Genoa in 1451 CE, just a couple of years before the Ottoman Turks…
Helena Cobban
Sep 30, 2021
France’s “historic position” in the Indo-Pacific region
France’s “historic position” in the Indo-Pacific region
The French and the Anglo-Saxons have gotten into a big pissing match over Australia’s decision to nix a longstanding contract for…
Helena Cobban
Sep 19, 2021
The “innovation” of transoceanic empires with cannons
The “innovation” of transoceanic empires with cannons
Throughout history there have been numerous empires, none of which was built using peaceful means. All were built through the use of…
Helena Cobban
Sep 19, 2021
Language, empire, nation, state
Language, empire, nation, state
I’m at the transition point between completing the big essay on the birth of the Portuguese empire, which I published August 30, and…
Helena Cobban
Sep 13, 2021
More on Portugal’s use of exemplary terror
More on Portugal’s use of exemplary terror
In the longform essay on the birth and early decades of the Portuguese empire that I published last week, I referred to the uses the…
Helena Cobban
Sep 6, 2021
Portugal and the origins of “the West”
Portugal and the origins of “the West”
1492? How about 1415 CE?
Helena Cobban
Aug 30, 2021
Afghanistan: The End of an Era?
Afghanistan: The End of an Era?
(A Twitter thread by @helenacobban)
Helena Cobban
Aug 19, 2021
The hubris of the long-distance empire
The hubris of the long-distance empire
What we are seeing in Afghanistan today, in almost real time, is the implosion and final collapse of the imperial project the US launched…
Helena Cobban
Aug 19, 2021
Empires and ‘absent-mindedness’
Empires and ‘absent-mindedness’
I’ve been writing my longform article about the role Portugal played in pioneering the concept, practice, and justifying ideologies of…
Helena Cobban
Aug 13, 2021
About Project 500 Years
Latest Stories
Archive
About Medium
Terms
Privacy
