Author: John Foster
John Foster is a historian of European politics.

Catalunya in the 1970s

By John Foster
Posted on
Posted in Reviews

A concrete platform occupies a bend in the road in the El Roquetes neighbourhood of Barcelona. It overlooks a dusty playground and a climbing wall, and then beyond the broad sweep of the city and the azure sea. (More…)

Bullshit Politics

By John Foster
Posted on
Posted in Words Have Consequences

For Americans, who are wont to see everything in Biblical terms, the Arctic temperatures which froze much of their country this week were a punishment from God. (More…)

Putting an End to Populism

By John Foster
Posted on
Posted in Critical Times

House Republicans met on Thursday to consider two fraught issues, which will define what kind of conservative party it is once and for all. (More…)

Morning in America

By John Foster
Posted on
Posted in Critical Times

Joe Biden’s inauguration was rich in political signifiers, both for the left and the right. (More…)

Trump’s Christian ISIS

By John Foster
Posted on
Posted in Behind The Lines

Ashli Babbitt might be dead. But she’s become a national icon, for both the right and the left. (More…)

Killed by Nationalism

By John Foster
Posted on
Posted in Behind The Lines

Ashli Babbitt was shot to death by police during the mob breach of the Capitol building on Wednesday. She was 35 years old and had spent 14 years in the US Air Force. (More…)

No Future Forever

By John Foster
Posted on
Posted in Words Have Consequences

One of the most oft-repeated criticisms of the left is that it has no plausible utopia to offer. (More…)

Populism Will Survive

By John Foster
Posted on
Posted in Behind The Lines

National populism seems to have been dealt a blow by the defeat of Donald Trump. Yet, like some down-market vampire in a B-grade horror flick, the scourge refuses to die. (More…)

Climate and Change

By John Foster
Posted on
Posted in Reviews

The threat posed by climate change is among the most common of concerns repeated these days. All too often it’s expressed by the sort of person who is as unlikely to do anything. (More…)