By Nicholas Jones This article was written in conjunction with a lecture which is available here. Africa is a continent of enormous potential, cultural wealth and with the worlds youngest population, it is simply bursting at the seams for much needed development in all sectors of society. Take Ghana as a shining example: Since the…
RTF Lecture: Frederick Douglass, Lincoln and the Fight to Save the Soul of America
To quote Martin Luther King: “Is anything more obvious than the presence of evil in the universe? Its nagging, prehensile tentacles projects into every level of human existence. We may debate the origin of evil, but only a victim of superficial optimism would debate its reality. Evil is stark, grim, and colossally real. … Within…
Toussaint Louverture, the Haitian Revolution and the Evolution of the American Republic
In this lecture, historian and author Gerald Therrien introduces the turbulent world of 1787-1804 which shaped (and was in turn shaped by) the Haitian Revolution establishing the world’s second republic. This was a world shaped by battles within America itself between opposing factions of Americans who read the newly established Constitution from diametrically opposing worldviews….
The Spirit of Apollo-Soyuz Is Alive… With the Russia/China Space Alliance
By Matthew Ehret Forty five years ago, Cold Warriors in the Pentagon and CIA shook their fists angrily at the stars- and for good reason. On July 17, 1975 the first international handshake was occurring in space between Russian Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov and American astronaut Thomas Stafford as the first official act kicking off the…
Will Entropy Define the New World Paradigm?
By Matthew Ehret It has come to my attention in recent years, that the world financial system is one giant bubble sitting atop a hyperbolically growing aggregate of unpayable debts that can do nothing but default at a given moment. Looking at the world from the point of view of the inevitable collapse of the…
Open System Pathways for a Multi-Polar Future
By Matthew Ehret During the course of President Putin’s June 24 opening speech during the Moscow Parade celebrating the 75th anniversary of WWII, the following call to action was made: “We understand how important it is to strengthen friendship and trust between nations, and are open to dialogue and cooperation on the most pressing issues on the international…
Colbert, Leibniz and Vattel: The Cameralist Roots of the American System
Everyone knows of the American Revolution and Declaration of 1776. Very few people know of the deeper historical currents and networks of republicans stretching across space and time that made this revolution happen and upon whose ideas, a system came into being which was named “The American System of Political Economy”. On Sunday July 12th,…
The Rebellions of 1837: Canada’s First and Last Revolt
In this lecture, historian Pascal Chevrier discusses the failure of Canada’s first and only rebellion against the British Empire as part of the Rising Tide Foundation series “Towards a Harmony of Interests: Inquiries into the True Nature of the American System” Pascal begins his class by addressing the failure of Britain’s newly acquired french subjects…
China’s Sputnik Moment Kindles a New Spark of Hope for the World
By Matthew Ehret It was once believed in the west that the future would be beautiful, just, and as plentiful as it was peaceful. Under John F. Kennedy’s bold leadership the idea of space exploration was more than a simple “space race” or plopping a human being on the moon “within the decade and returning…
Study of the Heavens: a History of Chinese Astronomy
Transcript of a lecture given by Cynthia Chung at ‘The Universe, Creativity and You‘ Symposium. We live in a strange time. Many have forgotten the power of imagination and are instead bogged down with the reality of ‘practicality’. The reality of ‘the budget’, and the reality of ‘what is deemed useful and what is deemed…
Why Iran’s Development of Nuclear Energy Will Create Stability and Prosperity in the Middle East
By Cynthia Chung This is Part 3 of the series “Iran’s Century and a Half Fight for Sovereignty”. Part 1 is a historical overview of Iran’s long struggle with Britain’s control over Iranian oil and the SIS-CIA overthrow of Iran’s Nationalist leader Mosaddegh in 1953. Part 2 covers the period of the Shah’s battle with the Seven Sisters, the…
The Sword of Damocles Over Western Europe
By Cynthia Chung This is Part 2 to a three-part series “Iran’s Century and a Half Fight for Sovereignty”. Part 1 is a historical overview of Iran’s long struggle with Britain’s control over Iranian oil and the SIS-CIA overthrow of Iran’s Nationalist leader Mosaddegh in 1953. Here we will resume our story… An Introduction to…
Iran’s Century and a Half Fight for Sovereignty
By Cynthia Chung It all started in 1872, with Nasir al-Din Shah having granted to the British Baron Julius de Reuter, rights to Iran’s entire economic estate. Reuter not only controlled Iran’s industry, farming, and rail transportation, but also held the right to issue currency and to set up a national bank, called the Imperial…
The Father of Modern China Was Inspired by Lincoln
By Matthew Ehret China today is a paradox for many people. On the one side, it is a nation based upon centralized government, yet it also has a vast private sector, entrepreneurial culture and market economy. Its leaders call this “socialism with Chinese characteristics,” but there is a larger history at play, going back to…
The Mind, Life and Insights of Confucius
While all living beings are mortal, only human kind has access to the self-awareness of its own mortality. With this knowledge of our own finiteness, we may become cynical and fearful pessimists wallowing in despair and nihilism or we may choose to embrace a higher set of goals and principles for the identity we shape…
How to Conquer Tyranny: A Lesson from Plato
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” – Dr. Martin Luther King Plato’s Letter VII Plato to Dion’s associates and friends wishes well-doing. You write to me that I must consider your views the same as those of Dion, and you urge me to aid your cause so far as I can…
How To Conquer Tyranny and Avoid Tragedy: A Lesson on Defeating Systems of Empire
By Cynthia Chung This is a transcription of a lecture, which can be found here, given as part of the RTF series “Art, Science and Civilization: The Renaissance Principles Across the Ages.“ It is common today to be confronted with the belief that any country, any civilization that gains a certain degree of power, will…
The First NATO: British and French Joint Aggressions in the Mid-19th Century
By Martin Sieff The two most militarily powerful nations in the West, both free to project naval power and maritime domination anywhere in the world, get together to punish and overthrow regimes they find guilty of human rights abuses and political repression in the name of human rights and promoting democracy: What could possibly go…
The Russian-China Polar Silk Road Emerges
Whether the Arctic will become a platform for cooperation or warfare has been a question often posed throughout the past 150 years. As early as 1875, a vision for Eurasian-American cooperation was becoming realized as leading Americans and Russians alike foresaw the construction of telegraph and even rail lines across the 100 km Bering Strait…
Tomorrow’s Arctic: Theatre of War or Cooperation? The Real Story Behind the Alaska Purchase
By Matthew Ehret Today, the Arctic has increasingly become identified as a domain of great prosperity and cooperation amongst world civilizations on the one side and a domain of confrontation and war on the other. In 2007, the Russian government first voiced its support for the construction of the Bering Strait rail tunnel connecting the Americas with…
Prometheus and America: The True Story of the American System by Anton Chaitkin
In this second presentation of the series “A Harmony of Interests: Inquiries into the True Nature of the American System“, sponsored by the Rising Tide Foundation, historian Anton Chaitkin (author of Treason in America [1984] and The Unauthorized Biography of George Bush [1991]) introduces his upcoming book and guides us through a powerful sweep of…
A Historical Reminder of What Defines the United States, As Told by a Former Slave
By Cynthia Chung We live in tumultuous days… one could say “the end of an era”. It is clear that there is a storm coming, however, the question is will it be the sort of storm that provides sustenance and relief to drought-stricken and barren lands, or will it be the sort of storm that…
Symposium: The Renaissance Principle Across the Ages
While all living beings are mortal, only human kind has access to the self-awareness of its own mortality. With this knowledge of our own finiteness, we may become cynical and fearful pessimists wallowing in despair and nihilism or we may choose to embrace a higher set of goals and principles for the identity we shape…
Dante’s Commedia, or How to Escape a Modern Inferno
By David Gosselin This is the accompanying article to a lecture given by the same author, as part of the RTF Lecture Series “The Renaissance Principle Across the Ages“. Many today would consider Dante Alighieri a “Dead White European Male” of dubious relevancy. However, Dante is in fact alive and well, as are so many…
The 15th Century Renaissance and the Space Program Today
by Cynthia Chung Today, a new system of alliances is emerging centered around China’s Belt and Road Initiative which has brought together over 125 nations into a new paradigm of cooperation and long term thinking unseen for many generations. With Italy’s recent joining in this new alliance, and the announcement of a Russia-China-European joint lunar…
The International Dimensions of 1776 and How an Age of Reason Was Subverted
By Matthew Ehret This July 4th, a larger-than-usual shadow is cast upon America which has come face-to-face with some serious historic reckonings. While the existence of an oligarchy and international “deep state” should not be ignored as a political force of history- arranging wars, assassinations and promoting economic enslavement of people and nations throughout the…
Why Canada Failed the ‘Ben Franklin Challenge’ in 1776
By Matthew Ehret July 1st is a strange day in Canada. From Pacific to the Atlantic coast, Canadians have made it an annual practice to paint maple leaves on their faces and party like there was no tomorrow. But what exactly does this day signify? It may be a bit of a bitter pill to swallow…
A Pax Americana or A Republic If You Can Keep It?
By Cynthia Chung “Fortune thus blinds the minds of men when she does not wish them to resist her power.” – Livy It seems quite evident to many that the United States has been consumed by the same ambition and thus fate with that of the Roman Empire. That one of the most notorious periods…
The Harmony Between Tianxia and Westphalia
By Matthew Ehret I have noticed that many pro-Chinese thinkers and writers have lately made the mistake of presuming that Chinese culture and civilization stands in total opposition to the divisive/imperially minded western culture which has laid waste to much of the world over the past centuries. This perception has expressed itself in the various…
Unifying Spirit between East and West: Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766), Jesuit painter in the Forbidden City.
By Matthew Ehret “In pursuing the Belt and Road Initiative, we should ensure that when it comes to different civilizations, exchange will replace estrangement, mutual learning will replace clashes, and coexistence will replace a sense of superiority. This will boost mutual understanding, mutual respect and mutual trust among different countries” -Xi Jinping, Belt and Road…
Islam & the Renaissance: A Shared Heritage
As part of the RTF Lecture Series “The Renaissance Principle Across the Ages“, Asad Wasti discusses the Islamic Renaissance. What are the roots of Islam and how has this cultural/religious movement shaped universal history? What is it in Islam that defined the greatest up-shifts of wisdom, tolerance and learning while at other times led to…
The Power of Classical Culture in Shaping the Future: A History of China-African Relations driven by Cooperation and Beauty
Transcript of a lecture given by Cynthia Chung, co-founder of Rising Tide Foundation, on April 28, 2019 at a symposium held in Montreal Canada dealing with the unified growth of cultural optimism, beautiful art and real economic development as it is being manifested today with the New Silk Road in Asia, Africa and beyond (for…
Symposium: Cultural Optimism, Art and the New Silk Road
On Sunday April 28, 2019, a symposium hosted by the Rising Tide Foundation was held in Montreal, Canada dealing with the unified growth of cultural optimism, beautiful art and economic development as it is being manifested today with the New Silk Road in Asia, Africa and beyond. Presentations were given by a pianist, a dancer,…
How to Take Back Control of Your Mind
By Cynthia Chung “Politicians, Priests, and psychiatrists often face the same problem: how to find the most rapid and permanent means of changing a man’s belief…The problem of the doctor and his nervously ill patient, and that of the religious leader who sets out to gain and hold new converts, has now become the problem…
A Study of Schiller’s Ghost Seer Part 2
by Cynthia Chung For Part 1 please refer here. Note to the reader: it is absolutely necessary that you first read Part 1 before proceeding to Part 2 for the lesson to have a complete overview and the reader a thorough understanding of what Schiller’s intention was for this very important and insightful drama. The…
Can NASA’s ‘Artemis Accords’ Spark a U.S.-Russia Alliance?
By Matthew Ehret The May 30 successful launch of America’s first manned launch since 2011 ushers in a hopeful new age of exploration and cooperation which is desperately needed during this period of profound international turmoil and crisis. While many onlookers were inspired by this milestone, too few truly appreciate the broader strategy of which…
Can China’s Long March 4 Revive the Spirit of JFK?
China’s successful launch of its Long March 5 Rocket on December 26 was a powerful reminder of humanity’s true mission and higher nature as a species of reason and discovery which came at just the right moment as China/US tensions have fallen to new lows in recent months. For those who may not be aware, the Long…
Today’s Multi Polar Potential and the Missed Chance of 1867
By Matthew Ehret In a recent paper entitled ‘Tomorrow’s Arctic: Theatre of War or Cooperation?’ I introduced readers to the US-Russian grand design which shaped not only the sale of Alaska in October 1867 to the USA for $7.2 million, but also Russia’s involvement in the American Civil War as Czar Alexander II arranged the deployment of…
The World Desperately Needs the Wisdom of Bobby Kennedy Now More Than Ever
By Matthew Ehret Today’s fires which have spread across America in the wake of George Floyd’s murder at the knee of Minnesota police officer Derick Chauvin has presented America with the chance to do some serious soul searching. The fact that these riots have occurred at a moment when America finds itself seriously reviving the spirit…
Paul Robeson and the Battle for the Soul of America
By Matthew Ehret “Every artist, every scientist, every writer must decide now where he stands. The artist must take sides. He must elect to fight for freedom or for slavery. I have made my choice” Paul Robeson, 1937 America today stands at a crossroads. Where an entrenched oligarchy strives desperately to keep hold of those…
Beyond the Lines: Keats’ “Ode on Indolence”
By David Gosselin The question has been raised by many critics, academics, scientists, and artists, “What is Creativity?” In the spring of 1819, the poet John Keats experienced one of the greatest bursts of creativity in the history of art and science. When fully considered, the astounding poetic achievements of the spring of 1819 parallel…
How Classical Painting Liberates us from the Shackles of the Senses
An exploration of Schiller’s Aesthetics as it pertains to political revolutions past and future By Matthew Ehret This article is based on a lecture given on Feb. 11, 2019 in Montreal Canada. German poet Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805) wrote his twenty six Letters on the Aesthetical Education of Man in 1794 in order to address this…
Russia and the United States: The Forgotten History of a Brotherhood
by Cynthia Chung “A battle lost or won is easily described, understood, and appreciated, but the moral growth of a great nation requires reflection, as well as observation, to appreciate it”. – Frederick Douglass (former slave who would later become a great American statesman and diplomat) It has always been an utmost necessity to exercise…
Alma Deutscher’s Plea for Harmony Strikes a Universal Chord
An incredible speech was given by the 14 year old composer Alma Deutscher upon receiving the European Culture Prize at the Vienna State Opera on October 20, 2019. At this prestigious ceremony, the young musician, whose works have sent shock waves through the musical world since she began composing at young age of 6 made…
How to Tell Bach from a Computer
By Fred Haight One of the difficulties in being able to tell Bach from a computer these days is that people often play Bach…as if he were a computer. The advocates of artificial intelligence, the people who wish to prove that a computer can compose like Bach have a huge problem, that is, there is…
The Forgotten Jewish-Christian-Muslim Alliance and China’s Silk Road
By Matthew Ehret This article was also presented by the author as a class, as part of the RTF Lecture Series “The Renaissance Principle Across the Ages“. Today, I would like to go a little deeper into the longer wave of history shaping our presently confused age by taking a look at the forgotten Jewish…
La Convivencia: A Time of Muslim, Christian, Jewish Coexistence
By Fred Haight This video on my visit to the southern part of Spain, known as Andalusia, is about 7 years old. I went there, because I was fascinated by the idea that Jews, Christians, and Muslims lived together in the area peacefully, and, that under Muslim rule, Andalusia was way ahead of anywhere else…
The Silk Road Roots of America and the American Roots of the New Silk Road
Upon reading this title, I can only imagine a reader asking: How could a young nation that only existed since 1776 be responsible for an idea which has its roots in a program that dates back over two millenia? Of course I am not implying that that America created the ancient Silk Road, but what…
The ‘Clean Break’ Doctrine: A Modern-Day Sykes-Picot Waging War and Havoc in the Middle East
By Cynthia Chung In 1996 a task force, led by Richard Perle, produced a policy document titled “A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm” for Benjamin Netanyahu, who was then in his first term as Prime Minister of Israel, as a how-to manual on approaching regime change in the Middle East and…
FDR’s Anti-Colonial Vision for the Post-War World: ‘As He Saw It’ Revisited
By Matthew Ehret The 75th Anniversary of the passing of American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt should give the world a chance to revisit the immortal life and courage of the man whom decades of revisionism have turned into a popular aristocratic cartoon character. The decades of intense of effort to distort the life of the…
