Victor Orbán’s Lesson in Prudence for Western Intellectuals
There is more to be said about this remarkably discrete teaching, but this is the necessary introduction. Intellectuals need to learn from the politicians.
Greatness Agenda
DHS to New York: Drop Dead
In response to a foolish state law, the Department of Homeland Security will remove New Yorkers from the “trusted traveler” program. Better wear comfortable shoes for long lines and have your passport ready.
Is Xi Jinping Losing China’s ‘Mandate of Heaven’?
The coronavirus outbreak and its impact on Chinese politics is probably the most important event for China since Mao’s “Great Leap Forward.” China’s long history suggests there is a pattern to these events that ends with the old regime being swept away and replaced by another.
Javanka’s Concerning Ties To Google
Big Tech hates Donald Trump, yet tech execs curry favor with his son-in-law and daughter. This could impact any investigation or actions Trump takes against tech giants like Google.
Coronavirus, the ‘Phase One’ China Deal, and Globalization
The owners of capital and their McKinsey consultants would do well to follow the teachings of David Ricardo—all of them.
America First Trade Agenda Prevails
As it turned out, the time was ripe for change, and it was everyday, normal people in places like Cleveland and Winchester, Tennessee—not the Ivy League professors who dismissed them—who had the right idea all along.
Democrats Willing to Let America Lose the Space Race
Whichever country conquers space first will write the destiny of the rest of us on Earth for this century. Clearly, the House Democrats don’t care. They want us to lose to the Red Chinese because that would be a victory for them over “that man” in the White House.
Teasing the Tiger
The state is coming after your children and politeness, fairness, and compromise are all demanded of you, but not of them. Is the American conservative tiger made of paper? Or is it real? Spain’s history in the 20th century offers a vital lesson.
As U.S. Pressures Beijing, the U.K. Kowtows to Huawei
Through several administrations, the United States has bent at the knee to Communists in China. We should not be surprised when the United Kingdom compromises with them.
A Very British Goodbye
Democracy still works. Why bother voting? That helpless cry seems so silly now. Not only does voting matter—it has changed history.
Democracy Dies In Diverse Societies
By using their police powers to swamp their already fractious populations with alien nations, governments have undermined existing ethnic balance in Western democracies and the fellow feeling so essential to democracy’s endurance.
Does the Coronavirus Outbreak Tell Us That China Is Bad or Evil?
A compelling case could be made that the Chinese miracle is built on lies. It’s Enron times a billion.
The Perils of Jacksonian Foreign Policy
Jacksonianism is built on instinct, not ideology. Donald Trump is very much the same way—but there’s always the peril that sensible instincts will fall prey to cunning manipulation.
Trade Policy Is Always Political First
Maybe the dealers got high on their own supply, but in the 1990s a trade regime that hitherto consistently understood itself as a political tool, the function of which was to achieve political aims, began running on autopilot and understanding itself as a purely economic tool.
Goodbye and Good Riddance to the EU
Free of the European Union, the UK now has an historic opportunity. A new Renaissance beckons. The “Great” can be put back into Britain.
As China Carries Disease, Elites Carry Their Water
The World Health Organization is a case study of how the Chinese Communist Party infects supposedly apolitical institutions. But it doesn’t end there.
The Real ‘1917’
While the lessons of 1939 should not be forgotten, neither should we forget the real lessons of the First World War.
In the Global Culture War, People and Paintings Are Both at Risk
Like Otto von Bismarck’s original Kulturkampf, it is a struggle over whose values, beliefs, and practices will prevail.
Picking the Wrong Fight in the Philippines
Washington must now compete against its rivals in China, Russia, and Iran for as much influence around the world as possible. In such a competition, hard-nosed realism, not airy moralism, must be America’s lodestar.
Espresso Populism
Matteo Salvini is destined to become Italy’s next prime minister. Barring a black swan event, this will happen as the collective psychology wills it in much the same manner that Trump and Boris Johnson also both lead their respective countries.