Here’s a writeup of my Phi Beta Kappa Distinguished Faculty Lecture.
Preemptive Strikes and Preventive Wars – A Historian’s Perspective
My take on risky business in the Hoover Institution’s Strategika: Conflicts of the Past as Lessons for the Present.
The Death of Caesar – and “Your Weekly Constitutional”
Here is a podcast of my public-radio interview on The Death of Caesar with Stewart Harris of “Your Weekly Constitutional.”
Interview on The Death of Caesar with Francesco Maria Galassi
I spoke with Dr. Francesco Maria Galassi about The Death of Caesar in the lovely Italian countryside earlier this summer.
My chat with Talking Points Memo about Russia, ISIS and Leadership Ancient and Modern
I had a fine time chatting with Talking Points Memo about Russia, ISIS and leadership ancient and modern. Here is a link to the conversation: Barry-Strauss_Livechat TPM May 18, 2017
Julius Caesar’s Art of the Comeback
Students of leadership know that every failure holds the seed of turnaround and potential success. History offers few better examples than Julius Caesar. True, he came to a dead end on March 15, 44 B.C. – the Ides of March – when he was assassinated. Yet for the previous 40 years Caesar built a career in politics and war, but …
L-E-A-D
I learned something as a parent of teenagers. The worst way to get your kid to do something is to tell them to do it. That is almost guaranteed to fail. The best way is to get them to want to do it on their own. But how do you do that? Sometimes, if you are lucky, you can plant …
A LEADER LOOKS WHERE NO ONE ELSE DOES
“Others follow their own lead and their own emotions. Don’t be distracted but go straight on.” — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations You’re in a large room. Everyone is looking in one direction, following reports from the media. Mainstream media, social media, and alternate media – all are pointing the same way, and everyone follows. Everyone, that is, except the one person …
CROSSING THE RUBICON IS EASY – MARKETING IT AFTERWARDS IS HARD
“Crossing the Rubicon” is an expression that shows off a little polish and education. But the history behind it offers a master class in marketing. That’s right, marketing. Read on. “Crossing the Rubicon” means making a difficult decision that can’t be reversed. It comes from a turning point in Roman history. It saw the rise of Julius Caesar and the …
How to Network: a Present on Cicero’s Birthday
January 1 is the birth of a new year and January 3 is the birthday of an old classic — Cicero. One of the greatest of history’s statesmen and speakers, as well as a brilliant writer and a penetrating philosopher, Cicero was born in Italy on that day in 106 B.C. Put Cicero on your list of reading resolutions …