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Up at The New Yorker this morning, I’ve got a double review of Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt’s new book, Tyranny of the Minority, and Joseph Fishkin and William Forbath’s The Anti-Oligarchy Constitution, which came out last year. My essay addresses the Constitution and the rise of the right, and asks whether any part of the Constitution might help us counter the right. I come out, surprisingly, thinking that, maybe, yes, it might. That’s what I learned from Fishkin and Forbath’s “wonderfully counterintuitive” book, as I say. The other surprise, for me, is the shift in Levitsky and Ziblatt’s position. Five years ago, you may recall, they were the leading scholarly voices arguing against the norm erosion of Donald Trump […]

Hi everyone, I’ve got two new pieces fresh out of the oven. For Compact, I’ve written about about the way in which the Ukraine war — or more precisely the West’s response to the latter — is causing Europe to deindustrialise at frightening speed, and how there is ample evidence that, from America’s perspective, this was the …

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I’ve got two new pieces out. In my first article, for UnHerd, I unpick the announcement made by the Open Society Foundations (OSF), Soros’ powerful philanthropic organisation (now run by his son Alex), that it will be largely withdrawing from Europe. Why is the OSF moving out of the EU? What’s the future of the OSF? What …

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I’ve got a new piece out for UnHerd where I look at the next phase of the West’s strategy in Ukraine: the transformation of the conflict into an Afghanistan-style war of attrition. “A long war”, as NATO’s chief put it. 

The Russia-Ukraine conflict has had massive global economic repercussions — but the worst may be yet to come. I’ve written for UnHerd about the unraveling of two agreements put in place at the start of the Ukraine war to limit the global economic fallout from the conflict: the Black Sea Grain Initiative, whereby Russia allowed Ukraine to continue …

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I’ve got a new article up at UnHerd about the latest BRICS summit, and why it signalled the greatest shift in the global balance of power since World War II — away from the West and towards a post-Western international order already comprising half of the world’s population. I hope you enjoy it.

I’ve got a new article up at UnHerd, where I take a critical look at the increasingly popular concepts of permacrisis, polycrisis and the such.

In my latest column for UnHerd I look at the recent media firestorm surrounding Elon Musk — this time concerning the role of his Starlink satellite system in Ukraine. According to his detractors, Musk thwarted a Ukrainian attempt to use SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet system — which has been providing communications services to Ukraine since the start of …

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A time for “calling in” If the threat posed by the authoritarian right is as existential as it seems, some of us might want to unhunch our shoulders and not be as reflexive about running off potential allies. If Digby’s Monday post about Red Caesarism was not a wake-up call, you just ain’t woke. About that. A repeated theme in Anand Giridharadas’s “The Persuaders” is “Is there room among the woke for the waking?” Do those on the left edge of the left — at the cutting edge of consciousness, if you prefer — possess enough critical mass to achieve the progressive goals they seek: Veteran activists Giridharadas profiles have decided they do not. Success means expanding their movements without compromising them. They’ve learned to “call in” progressives with whom they mostly agree rather than just calling them out for their failings, to focus more on conversion than on hunting heretics. They walk a fine line seeking to coalition with more moderate allies without watering down their own goals. A listserv I once enjoyed blew up when the “call out” fad hit the progressive movement.

As GOP-gerrymandered legislatures vie for Most Authoritarian North Carolina Republicans held the state budget and Medicaid expansion hostage to a failed attempt to expand casino gambling for three months. They finally passed the budget on September 22. Gov. Roy Cooper allowed it to become law without his signature. A veto and inevitable override vote would have been a pointless additional delay. We sounded the 🚨 on this when the NC budget dropped with this hidden language. Now the national media are paying attention. Thanks to @JuddLegum and @tesszeeks for putting some ☀️on what’s happening here in NC. https://t.co/vnl6425yhP — Sen. Graig Meyer (@GraigMeyer) October 2, 2023 There was one teensy rider added. Judd Legum reports in a thread: In other words, something like National Security Letters provided for in the Patriot Act (for those who ain’t). 5. Gov Ops is dominated by Republicans and pursues partisan investigations. It is co-chaired by Senate Leader Phil Berger (R) and House Speaker Tim Moore (R).