Many in the West are not familiar with the works of Alexander Pushkin. They may not even be aware of his existence and this is a real loss for western thinking. Just as Shakespeare is admired throughout the world and not just in Britain, for his lessons are universal and touch all hearts no matter…
The Power of Metaphor
By David Gosselin Metaphor should not be approached as some “thing,” but as a transformative power, the invisible process by which “things” come into being. Using metaphor, even very simple language and very common-place images can be brought into new, unique constellations. Contrary to the sundry definitions of metaphor proffered by many school teachers and…
The Emerging Eurasian Alliance as an Opportunity not a Threat
by Cynthia Chung This article is based off of a presentation done at the RTF symposium on Nov 16th titled “The Art of Peace: The New Silk Road Counters an Age of Turbulence” This past November marked the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and along with its celebration the continuation of a…
The Forgotten Multi-Polar Traditions of the USA: The UN Charter Revisited
By Matthew Ehret From the drafting of the UN Charter in 1941, the formulation of the Bretton Woods system in 1944, to the UN Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, there is no doubt that there is very little that America has not directly influenced over the past 75 years. While this leadership is undeniable,…
Cynthia Chung Interview: Revisiting the Forgotten Dynamics of WWII
In this interview with “It’s the Empire, Stupid”, host Phillip Farruggio speaks with Rising Tide Foundation President Cynthia Chung about her research on WWII and the forgotten battles between FDR and Churchill. Cynthia debunks the myth that Stalin was to blame for Hitler’s empowerment by evaluating the broader context of British oligarchical and even Wall Street support…
JFK’s Defense of the Poetic Principle: The Artist as the Unacknowledged Legislator of Society
Many know of John F. Kennedy as a great patriot and world citizen. Too many however are unaware of Kennedy’s profound understanding of the purpose of poetry in the moral education of society. Describing his understanding of the mind of Leonardo Davinci during a worldwide tour of the Mona Lisa, the young president said: “Today,…
John F. Kennedy, NAWAPA and China’s New Silk Road
As we solemnly remember the life and mission of the martyred President Kennedy 57 years ago today, it is worth noting that his was a life devoted to the actualization of all inherent powers of his own citizens and citizens of all nations in our common struggle for freedom, security and cooperation. Between his alliance…
Remembering John F. Kennedy’s Vision for the Future that Should Have Been
By Matthew Ehret “Man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe….” President Kennedy, 1961 Inaugural Address Where China and Russia are currently leading a…
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…
Three Sister Ballads
David Gosselin, author of the three sister ballads feature here composed an accompanying essay showcasing his philosophy of poetry, creativity and the importance of rediscovering classical principles of artistic composition in our modern age which can be read here. The Sea Restless—I awaken—As the city stirs,Street lights flicker like stars,And the sea whispers. Languid ocean…
Poetry, Creativity and the Musical Imagination
By David Gosselin “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.” -Albert Einstein A population that is not in a disposition to receive beautiful and impassioned conceptions in the realms of the arts will seldom know how to pursue them in…
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 Poetic Principle as a Force of Universal History
In this Rising Tide Foundation lecture, Gerald Therrien addresses the question of morality’s relationship with creative genius and how this uniquely human power allows us to translate discoveries of human nature and the universe into new forms of action and artistry that both elevates our culture while extending the influence of a mortal life infinitely…
Jonathan Swift’s Cultural War in London: The Scriblerus Club Revisited
What are the historic forces moving events on today’s world stage? Turbulent storms shake the foundations of the American republic as the world waits with bated breath to see if a nation restored to its better traditions of friendship and cooperation arises or if a system of empire and war dominates. In this presentation delivered…
Why Propaganda is Vital In Upholding The Illusion of a Democracy
By Cynthia Chung “Whenever the government of the United States shall break up, it will probably be in consequence of a false direction having been given to public opinion. This is the weak point of our defenses, and the part to which the enemies of the system will direct all their attacks. Opinion can be…
Ramifications of the Elections on US-Russia-China Relations
How can we begin to make sense of the U.S. elections which has resulted in more confusion and chaos than anyone had predicted with no clear candidate even days later? What are the top down effects of the end of one system and emergence of a new, yet under-defined world order and how might the…
Russia and the USA’s Common Missions: A Cause for Hope amidst our Troubled Times
By Matthew Ehret After taking an assessment of American foreign policy failures over the past four decades, it is easy to understand why one might become depressed or disenchanted with the prospects of cooperation and peace amongst these two historic allies. However, as Martin Luther King Jr said, it is “Only in the darkness that…
African Infrastructure Renaissance along The Belt and Road – Case Study: Egypt
By Hussein Askary Overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic and its undeniable devastating effects on almost every nations’ economic and social wellbeing, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) remained alive and kicking. And, in contrast to some bizarrely gleeful reports in Western and Swedish media about the potential collapse of the BRI due to the pandemic, the train of the…
Paul Robeson: His Life as an Unfinished Symphony
Many know of the name Paul Robeson as a great baritone singer and actor of the early 20th century… but few know of Paul Robeson as the cultural warrior, renaissance man and world citizen who created the foundations for the civil rights movement, played a leading role in the international anti-colonial freedom struggle, or anti-fascist…
A Historical Reminder of What Defines the United States, As Told by Frederick Douglass
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…
How to Save a Republic Part One: Hamilton’s Genius
By Matthew Ehret Today’s world calls out desperately for a systemic change. This means not only a change in thinking about diplomacy, the superiority of win-win cooperation over “might makes right”, but it also means a change in thinking about value itself. Everyone agrees that money is useful and few people would say that they…
How to Save a Republic Part Two: Lincoln and the Greenbacks
By Matthew Ehret In my last paper I introduced the figure of Alexander Hamilton (first Treasury Secretary and founder of the American System of political economy). I reviewed how America was saved from an early dismemberment in the early years of chaos after 1783’s Peace of Paris which finally ended the war with Britain but left…
How to Save a Republic Part Three: In Defense of Patriotism
By Matthew Ehret “Repression is the only lasting philosophy. The dark deference of fear and slavery, my friend, will keep the dogs obedient to the whip, as long as this roof shuts out the sky.” – Marquis St. Evrémonde (from Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities) A major cultural fight has broken out in the USA…
Edgar Allan Poe and the Mask of the 21st Century
By David Gosselin BUT for the cruel aspersions upon the character and life of America’s poetic genius, EDGAR ALLAN POE, this volume would have remained unwritten. EDGAR ALLAN POE has been more misunderstood than any other poet of the recent past. While his life was beautiful and inspired, yet aspersed, his last moments had more…
The Edgar Poe You Never Knew: a Mere Writer of Horror or a Humanist Master of the Mind
by Cynthia Chung What say of it? what say CONSCIENCE grim, That spectre in my path? -Chamberlain’s Pharronida This is a transcript of a lecture given at an RTF Symposium titled “The Edgar Poe You Never Knew“ The purpose of this paper is to debunk the myth surrounding Poe; that he was just a mere…
Poe’s Metaphysics: Rediscovering Eureka
By Matthew Ehret What I here propound is true: — therefore it cannot die: — or if by any means it be now trodden down so that it die, it will “rise again to the Life Everlasting. Nevertheless it is as a Poem only that I wish this work to be judged after I am dead.” –Edgar…
An Introduction to Friedrich Schiller: Theater Considered as a Moral Institution
by Cynthia Chung I know of only one secret to guarding man against depravity, and that is: to arm his heart against weakness. – Friedrich Schiller’s Theater Considered as a Moral Institution As within any period of time, the question is repeatedly asked “What is the Role of the Artist?” That is, what is the…
Save Lake Chad with Transaqua: Nkrumah and FDR Would Concur
By Lawrence Freeman After two months, the deliberations from the “International Conference on Saving Lake Chad” held in Abuja, Nigeria from February 26-28, 2018 are still reverberating, and will continue to do so. This historic conference, the first of its kind to be convened on the African continent, was initiated and sponsored by the Nigerian…
A Mission for Africa: Past, Present and Future
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…
The Poetic Principle in the World of the I Ching: Mankind’s Long Journey to Reason and Beauty
In this lecture Dr. Quan Le focuses on the I Ching, the first Confucian Classic (of five: Yi Jing, Shu Jing, Shi Jing, Chun Qiu and Zhou Li) which magnificently embodies the poetic principle famously outlined by Shelley, centuries later, in his Defense of Poetry which re-asserted that Poets are the true legislators of the world….
The Spirit of Win-Win Cooperation: 15-19th Century Diplomatic Success of China
Although it is well known that China has become the world’s largest and fastest growing economy in the world- outpacing the USA since the unveiling of the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013, it is too often forgotten that this dominant position is not new, but merely a return to the “normal” state of world…
V.I. Vernadsky and the American System in Russia
As the dust settled on the American Civil war in 1865, Russia took pride in the fact that this Eurasian nation turned the tide in favor of Lincoln’s cause of preserving the union and abolishing the institution of slavery. Czar Alexander II was also known as “The Great Liberator” for liberating the serfs in 1861…
A Look Into Halton Arp’s “Peculiar Galaxies” and its Implications for the World We Live In
By Matthew Ehret National Geographic Magazine recently covered a widely publicized scientific study which supposedly proved how and when our universe would die. National Geographic stated: “Physicists believe that countless billions of years from now, after all the stars have burned out, the universe will be a cold, dark expanse where nothing of interest happens,…
The Curse of Game Theory: Why It’s in Your Self-Interest to Exit the Rules of the Game
By Cynthia Chung Game theory, the mathematical theory of games of strategy, was developed by John von Neumann in several successive stages in 1928 and 1940-41, according to his book “Theory of Games and Economic Behaviour” which he co-authored with Oskar Morgenstern. The crux of the theory is that an individuals’ behaviour will always be…
The Art of War in the 21st Century
By Cynthia Chung Sun Tzu’s The Art of War is one of the most influential books written on military strategy and philosophy. This is not confined to just Asians but Europeans and Americans alike have attempted to study The Art of War hoping its wisdom would be revealed to them. However, it is clear with…
A Harmony of Interests: Inquiries into the True Nature of the American System
What ideas will shape the next centuries of human civilization as our species begins to confront the reality of our collective self-interest living on the earth? The use of the atomic for either peaceful or warlike purposes has given our species for the first time in history the dual potential to destroy all life as…
Symposium: Renaissance 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…
Why the Poetic Principle is Imperative for Statecraft
Cynthia Chung Today, perhaps more so than at any time in history, we are experiencing a divide between what is considered to be the “domain” or “confinement” of art as wholly separate from the domain of “politics.” The irony of such a perception is its failure to recognise that the root of our political system…
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…
The Historic Clash of Two Opposing Paradigms: Gilpin’s Landbridge vs. Mahan’s World Maritime Empire
By Matthew Ehret Compared the great initiatives taken on behalf of freedom and anti colonialism throughout the past 260 years, today’s America appears to be a strange and foolish creature running roughshod over the dignity of people and nations in a race for mass nuclear extermination. Such is the image projected by Mike Pompeo’s anti-China…
Kennedy’s U.S.-Russia Joint Space Vision Must Be Revived
By Matthew Ehret September 20th marks the anniversary of the last speech John F Kennedy delivered to the United Nations’ General Assembly. This event bears more relevance upon our present crisis than most people could possibly imagine. This is true not only because it is wise to pay homage to great ideas of the past which lesser souls…
The Day the World Stood Still: A Story of the First Atomic Bomb and Our Perpetual Cold War
By Cynthia Chung Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;And thus the native hue of resolutionIs sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought,And enterprises of great pith and momentWith this regard their currents turn awry,And lose the name of action. – Shakespeare’s Hamlet Act III, scene I [This paper works as a follow-up…
On Roosevelt and Stalin: What Revisionist Historians Want Us to Forget
By Cynthia Chung “Madman, thou errest. I say, there is no darkness but ignorance” – William Shakespeare (Twelfth Night) There is a very real attempt to rewrite history as we speak. A history that is at the root of what organises our world today, for it is understood that who controls the past, will have control…
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…
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…
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…
