World History

I see both pros and cons. The pros you already mentioned and I agree that one powerhouse group could be a good thing. There's also the prospect of cross-pollination, with people who normally engage mainly with American history getting exposed to different topics in the same group.

On the other hand, I do think there is something to be said for a group that focuses on regions, cultures, and issues, etc. that don't pertain directly to the US. There's certainly no shortage of material.

A progressive board like DU presents an interesting set of circumstances here. Lots of DUers are very much engaged in US politics and interested in US history, but at the same time, progressives are more likely than many others to have a more cosmopolitan view of the world and thus more interest in non-American cultures and topics.

Also, while many groups were somewhat moribund on DU2, non-donors will now be able to post on them in DU3, which might add some traffic, especially if there are steady streams of fresh OPs for people to look at and comment on. I certainly wouldn't want to write off the WH group on those grounds, though I do see some merit with the idea of one forum.

As it stands now, I would vote to keep the WH forum and if there's not much traffic, possibly combining it with American history a little bit later.