Word: 20th
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...beneath the surface, inevitably, traditional differences remain. George Bernard Shaw declared generations ago that England and America were two countries divided by a common language. Now the world often resembles 200 countries divided by a common frame of cultural reference. The number of countries on the planet, in the 20th century, has more than tripled...
Clausewitz got it right. Using the full powers of government, nation-states applied scientific advances to increase the destructive powers of their forces. With improved organization and weaponry, 20th century wars killed tens of millions of combatants and civilians. And the march of science and technology continues. World War II forces look pale in comparison to the tanks, armed helicopters, automatic cannon, aircraft and precision-strike capabilities available today, to say nothing of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons...
...begin with the reasons why the economic system we called socialism back in the 20th century is unlikely ever to return. Today it's a cliche to say that socialism didn't work, that it produced a society in which, as the Soviets used to joke, they pretend to pay us and we pretend to work. In fact, socialism did work at one period in history: during the 1930s, and again in the '50s and '60s, socialist economies like that of the U.S.S.R. grew faster than their capitalist counterparts. But they stopped working sometime during the 1970s and '80s, just...
...19th century, national consciousness spread throughout European societies. In the 20th century, Third World students of Western nationalism returned home to lead national-liberation movements. Meanwhile, the concept of the nation--an ethnic or cultural community--had become linked to that of the state--a purely political organization. No reason exists in logic or experience, however, why sources of identity and authority should coincide, and through most of human history they have...
...right through them. (Up to exam 40. Then our lynx eyes droop, and grading habits relax. Try to get on the bottom of the pile.) Again, it is not that A.E.'s are vicious or ludicrous as such; but in quantity they become sheer madness. Or induce it. "The 20th century has never recovered from the effects of Marx and Freud." (V.G.); "But whether or not this is a good thing or a bad thing is difficult to say." (A.E.) Now one such might be droll enough. Buy by the dozen? This, the quantitative aspect of grading--we are, after...