Historian’s Corner

Victor Davis Hanson Deterrence Deterrence is the classical effort to scare somebody off from attacking you, or your interests—without a major conflict. It is hard to obtain and predicated on being predictable in reacting to aggression, while remaining unpredictable in the level of violence employed. Deterrence can be lost by ennui and becoming transparently passive,

Victor Davis Hanson Historian’s Corner The 1619 idea was designed to provoke, not instruct, and, of course, make Ms. Jones “controversial.” 1619 would have vanished with easy refutation—except the New York Times sponsored the ruse. And the rest is history. The powers of relativism were invoked (e.g., “who is to say that one date is

Victor Davis Hanson Education is a zero-sum game. Every decision to read one book entails not reading another. For every language mastered, yet another is shorted. What to study is as important as studying anything at all. Ars longa, vita brevis. Woke is many things—Marxist, nihilist, cruel, incoherent, and especially careerist and grifting. But we

Victor Davis Hanson Historian’s Corner IV. The Republican and Democratic Splits There are quasi-religious and bitter schisms in both parties. On the Right, national and cultural populists vie with shrinking establishment, libertarian, and pre-2016 Republicans; on the Left, radical Jacobins and Socialists versus the Manchinian remnants of the old Democratic Party. But the divisions—ignore the media

Victor Davis Hanson Historian’s Corner III. An Agenda Can the Republicans move beyond just completing the original, necessary Trump agenda on closing the border, legal-only immigration, deterrence against China, energy production, and immunity from optional military engagements in the Middle East, and industrial and manufacturing resurgence in the rust belt, and conservative judicial appointments? What would

Victor Davis Hanson Historian’s Corner Next, we come to NATO Remember that NATO supposedly hates Trump because in art-of-the-deal bombastic style, he screamed, he yelled, he cajoled—and he got NATO to spend an extra $100 billion on its defense with more commitments to follow. Ukraine is geographically near several NATO members. It is far distant

Historian’s Corner Victor Davis Hanson Dear Ultra Readers,  Could you please help figure out the following confusion about the Ukraine mess as Putin ratchets up the pressure on Ukraine? We were once told by our Washington grandees that Trump was variously Putin’s “puppet” (Hillary Clinton), a Russian “asset” (James Clapper), and “treasonous” (John Brennan). Who

Victor Davis Hanson Historian’s Corner Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama at various times have called for either junking the 233-year-old Electoral College, the 180-year-old filibuster, the 60-year-old 50-state union, the 150-year-old nine-justice Supreme Court, and the 233-year-old Constitutionally mandated responsibilities of states to have primary responsibility in crafting balloting laws in national elections.