by Ruth Ben-Ghiat | May 8, 2015 | War
CNN.com, May 8, 2015 World War II’s end happened over time. Germany unconditionally surrendered to the Allies on May 7, 1945 (it was announced the next day, May 8, on what would be known as Victory in Europe Day — or V-E Day), but Italy had been liberated...
by Ruth Ben-Ghiat | Apr 22, 2015 | Global Authoritarianism
Geography is, in part, destiny for Italy: The country will always be a bridge between Africa and Europe, as the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean so starkly shows. A surge of refugees this year, usually transported by smugglers on overcrowded vessels,...
by Ruth Ben-Ghiat | Feb 23, 2015 | War, Writing
Huffington Post, February 23, 2015 We are living through another dramatic moment in the complex relationship of war and cinema. This time, Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper is the movie at issue. It has been nominated for six Academy Awards and praised as an anti-war...
by Ruth Ben-Ghiat | Feb 22, 2015 | Images Tell The Story
CNN.com, February 22, 2015 Seventy years ago, on February 23, two American flags were planted on the peak of Mount Suribachi, located on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima. Coming five days into one of the most ferocious battles of World War II, the first flag-raising,...
by Ruth Ben-Ghiat | Feb 9, 2015 | War
CNN.com, February 9, 2015 Every age has the heroes it deserves, as the saying goes. To judge from the success of the movie “American Sniper,” the hero of the current moment would be the trained killer. Director Clint Eastwood’s movie has been highly...
