Boundless Learning

I found an article recently with the academic-sounding title of “Navigating the Legacy of Westphalia: The European Union’s Role in Managing Russian-Ukrainian Relations.” Not only does it sound academic; the author has a Ph.D., and the article was published in the Bulgarian Journal of International Economics and Politics. The author attributes everything to Westphalia that it is not — state supremacy, equality, non-intervention, and territorial integrity — which is depressing but predictable. What I did not predict is that this work with highly academic trappings repeatedly cites “Lumen Learning (2017)” as one of its sources. Hmm, what could that be? A visit to the bibliography lists it as “The Rise of Nation-States.” In: Boundless World History. Lumen Learning free textbook.” So this author with a Ph.D. cites a free online textbook as his evidence for the nature of the Peace of Westphalia? There is no hope for disseminating understanding about Westphalia if this counts as scholarship.