![]() Inspiration for such an endeavor can be found in existing scholarship, especially concerning public policy making, where attempts have already been undertaken to promote critical engagements with historical analogies. A key challenge, therefore, lies in finding productive modes of engagement with historical analogies. However, this endeavor also can prove to be challenging, since, while historical analogies can illuminate important aspects of both the past and the present, they can also hamper a nuanced understanding of the situation at hand. Historians can do so by highlighting the longer history of the phenomena under discussion, while also demonstrating how the present is rooted in, but still distinct from, the past. Since these and other analogies can significantly shape our understanding of contemporary events and influence public policy, a central task for historians lies in critically engaging with these analogies. For example, while Putin spoke of an intended ‘denazification’ of Ukraine to legitimize the invasion, 3 European and American commentators alike referred to Putin’s regime as a fascist dictatorship engaging in a colonial war of destruction reminiscent of Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. 2 And following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, various actors invoked analogies with Nazi Germany and the Second World War. 1 In the Summer of 2021, the withdrawal of the US-led military coalition from Afghanistan led several commentators to characterize the latter as a ‘graveyard of empires’, a place where old and new empires were decisively defeated, precipitating their demise. In 2019–2020, following the outbreak of Covid-19, many analogies were drawn to past pandemics, ranging from the 14th-century ‘Black Death’ to the ‘Spanish flu’ of 1918–1919. In recent years, historical analogies have been invoked widely to characterize key contemporary events. Keywords: historical analogies magic yarn balls Adolf Hitler Donald Trump
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