Remembering Stalingrad 75 Years Later
by Victor Davis Hanson// National Review It is now fashionable to demonize Russia, but most Americans have forgotten key aspects of 20th-century history, including the Russians’ fight to stop the march of Nazi Germany. Seventy-five years ago this month, the Soviet Red Army surrounded — and would soon destroy — a huge invading […]
The Year That Changed History
by Victor Davis Hanson Defining Ideas Sometimes, just a few months can change the course of civilization. That’s what happened in 1942 when a series of decisive events changed the trajectory of World War II. Before that turning point, Germany seemed destined for victory. In 1939 and 1940, Hitler’s army had won a series of […]
California, the Rhetoric of Illegal Immigration, and the Perils of Ignoring Thucydides’s Warning
By Victor Davis Hanson // Eureka Vocabulary changes always reflect the agendas of a political debate. The fight over illegal immigration plays out by altering words and their meanings. Take the traditional rubric “illegal alien.” The English has been clear and exact for nearly a century: illegal alien (cf. Latin alienus) was a descriptive term […]
Don’t Forget Middle East Madness
by Victor Davis Hanson// National Review Thanks to the Iran deal, the mullahs can buy nearly all the weapons they need. There is currently a real Asian pivot as the president completes one of the longest presidential tours of Asia in memory. Three carrier battle groups are in the West Pacific. America […]
Whatever doesn’t kill Trump only makes him stronger
Los Angeles Times Victor Davis Hanson Former FBI Director James B. Comey attends a hearing before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing in Washington on June 8. (Brendan Smialowsk / AFP/Getty Images) Donald Trump presides as he campaigned. He is proving a Nietzschean figure in the sense that “what does not kill him […]
Who Gets to Have Nuclear Weapons — and Why?
By Victor Davis Hanson// National Review The rules used to be controlled by two big powers, but not anymore. Given North Korea’s nuclear lunacy, what exactly are the rules, formal or implicit, about which nations may have nuclear weapons and which may not? It is complicated. In the free-for-all environment of […]
VDH Ultra
11/06/2017 From An Angry Reader: Professor Davis, In your recent article “The Method to Trump’s Madness”, you claim Trump’s insults are retaliation to those who have said things against him. Even if that is (partially) true, that does not justify Trump’s immaturity and cruelty. In many instances, Trump’s name-calling was unprovoked. During the […]
Interviews With VDH On His New Book, The Second World Wars
Check out the latest interviews with Victor Davis Hanson on his new book, The Second World Wars. Listen to The Classicist: Part I The Second World Wars Listen to The Classicist: Part II Behind the Book: The Second World Wars Listen to Victor Davis Hanson speak about this book on the podcast, Public […]
NATO For the 21st Century: Ensuring Liberal Democracy In Europe
NATO was originally founded after World War II to ensure that liberal democracy survived in Europe. While the fall of the Soviet Union may have led many to question whether NATO was still necessary, its mission remains vital and relevant. NATO should resist the temptation to expand its geographic focus. For more information related to […]
Steele dossier farce shows why Trump relies on Twitter
The Hill By Paul R. Gregory, opinion contributor — 10/27/17 The media refrain on the Trump dossier has been that “considerable amounts of it have been proven.” No one had explained exactly what has been proven, however, until The Washington Post decided to answer the question itself. Per the Post, the Trump dossier must […]
Victor Davis Hanson’s interview with Lewis Lapham for The World in Time is now available: https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/content/victor-davis-hanson
The ‘Never Trump’ Construct
by Victor Davis Hanson// National Review The president’s fiercest critics still do not grasp that Trump is a symptom, not the cause of the GOP’s internal strife. For all the talk of a Civil War in the Republican party over Donald Trump, 90 percent of Republicans ended up voting for him. Bitterness Over […]
North Korea Knowns and Unknowns
by Victor Davis Hanson// National Review We are in the middle, not at the end, of a long North Korean crisis. No one really knows all that much about North Korea’s nuclear or conventional military capability or its strategic agenda. Are its nuclear missiles reliably lethal, are they as long-ranged and accurate as […]
An Avoidable Great War
by Victor Davis Hanson// National Review Far from being inevitable, World War II resulted from the Allies’ failure to muster their combined resources and power in the service of deterring Hitler. Editor’s Note: The following is the fourth and final installment in a series of excerpts adapted from Victor Davis Hanson’s new book The […]
Trump’s Constructive Chaos
by Victor Davis Hanson Defining Ideas Almost daily, President Trump manages to incense the media, alarm the world abroad, and enrage his Democratic opposition. Not since Ronald Reagan’s first year in office has change and disruption come so fast from the White House. Let’s consider foreign affairs first. In response to North Korea’s nuclear threats […]
The Deadly Cost of Mutual Misunderstanding
by Victor Davis Hanson// National Review Hitler went to war without an accurate conception of the Allies’ strength. The Allies did the same without an accurate conception of Hitler’s ambition. Unprecedented bloodshed ensued. Editor’s Note: The following is the third in a series of excerpts adapted from Victor Davis Hanson’s new book The Second […]
Status Quo Blues
by Victor Davis Hanson// National Review The public is turning away from the institutions that used to unite Americans — the NFL, mainstream news, late-night TV, movies . . . The familiar cultural order of the last half-century is crumbling — partly because of larger forces beyond its control, partly from self-inflicted wounds, […]
VDH Ultra
From An Angry Reader: You created this Frankenstein. You have a lot to answer for. G-d is looking down on you, and He is not smiling. You all are in your 80s. That’s the good thing in all this. Nobody lives forever and you all are a helluva lot closer to the “final reward” than […]