When Being Home Means Speaking German on Bastille Day in a Los Angeles Bistro

How I Made Peace With My Curious Tri-Cultural Upbringing

Is it “perilous fight” or “perilous night”?

We’re at a Dodger game and I’ve decided to just mumble that part of the national anthem. I see it as a victory that I don’t have to look at the Jumbotron for most of the lyrics, though my ignorance might shock or offend many Americans. How does an 18-year-old, born and raised right here in California, not know the entire “Star-Spangled Banner”?

That was two years ago. While I have since learned that it is perilous fight, I still don’t know the Pledge …

By Emma Electra Jones | August 15, 2016

Why France Continues to Bitterly Defend Fatty Goose Livers

Despite Controversy, Foie Gras Production Remains a Crucial Entity to the Country's Identity

By Michaela DeSoucey | August 1, 2016

Vacations to the southwestern countryside have long been a staple of French life. People escape urban centers to visit ancient churches, beautiful gardens, and magnificent castles. They enjoy outdoor activities …

Even Before Terror Struck, Brussels Was Under Attack

Austerity Cuts Launched My City's Descent Into a Constant State of Emergency

By Julia Manuel | April 15, 2016

I am not a citizen of Belgium; I carry a French passport. But I am a citizen of Brussels, the most international of European cities.

This is first a matter …

Écoutez Bien, Américains! Don’t Expect Paris to Make You More Sophisticated

The City Is Gorgeous and Inspirational, but for Too Many Visitors, It’s Also a Cop-Out

By Gregory Rodriguez | November 10, 2015

I hate Paris. That’s what I was thinking a few mornings ago while I was brooding over a café au lait at a hipster joint near the Canal Saint-Martin.

The coffee …

There Is No ‘Muslim World’

Each Time Deranged Terrorists Invoking Islam Strike Against the West, 1.6 Billion People Get Lumped Together As If They’re All the Same

by Ahmed Benchemsi | January 18, 2015

Here we go again. Each time deranged terrorists invoking Islam strike in the West, alongside the mourning of the victims comes the heated debate over how the world’s Muslims should …

The Marquis de Lafayette’s Great American Love Affair

Why a 19-Year-Old Frenchman Traded Versailles for Valley Forge

by Laura Auricchio | January 16, 2015

The 19-year-old Marquis de Lafayette had met only a handful of Americans when he signed up to join General George Washington’s army, but he felt certain that the people of …

Why We French Canadians Are Neither French nor Canadian

An Intimate Family History of New England's Franco-Americans

What Nineteenth-Century Europeans Can Teach America About Peacekeeping Occupations

Rather Than Rendering a Defeated Post-Napoleonic France Dependent, Victorious Allies Sought to Create Lasting Stability

The American Revolution Story Has a Hole the Size of Spain

While the Marquis de LaFayette Gets a Share of the Glory, Names Like Gardoqui and Gálvez Are All but Forgotten

German Guilt Wears Thin

If It Becomes a Normal Country, Where Does That Leave Europe (And Me!)?

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