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Victor Davis Hanson American Greatness One of the oddest commentaries about the Russian invasion of Ukraine is the boilerplate reaction that “borders can’t change in modern Europe” or “this does not happen in the 21st century.” But why in the world should the 21st century be exempt from the pathologies of the past 20 centuries? […]

Victor Davis Hanson American Greatness For all his caginess, dissimulation, and opportunism, Vladimir Putin is more or less predictable. Putin’s aims? The Russian president’s two-decade dilemma has been how to reclaim the prestige and power of the former Soviet Union—but with only 75 percent of his country’s former territory and 140 million fewer people. When

Victor Davis Hanson American Greatness Canada is now governed by absurdism, and it is symptomatic of an ailing Western elite. Liberal Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last week invoked martial law to arrest and financially destroy truckers on the charge that their largely peaceful protests are “dismantling the Canadian economy” that had already been dismantled

Victor Davis Hanson American Greatness Hillary Clinton’s never-ending shenanigans in 2015-2016 could be summarized as an attempted slow-motion coup. Four years of national hysteria, a divided nation, and dangerous new tensions with Russia were some of the wages of Clinton’s machinations. Clinton hired a British national and ex-spy, Christopher Steele, to compile dirt on her

Victor Davis Hanson American Greatness Medieval alchemists sought to turn base metals into precious metals like gold. The more the alchemists bumped into the reality that gold was an element, the more desperately they sought to find fantastic ways to fabricate the rare element out of nothing. Joe Biden operates on the same alchemist principles.

Victor Davis Hanson American Greatness What ultimately destroyed the evil empires of Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia were bankrupt dogmas. Crackpot ideology destroyed free expression. It ruined meritocracy and ensured unequal application of the laws—and so paved the way for far worse. The Nazi idea of a superior Aryan race adjudicated everything from physics to

Victor Davis Hanson American Greatness An elite is always variously defined. The ideal elites, as ancient philosophers argued, were a “natural elite” due to their exemplary character, aptitude, and work ethic. Understandably, a towering few ascended from all walks of life to positions of power, influence, and occasional wealth. But such a natural meritocracy, for

Victor Davis Hanson American Greatness One way of understanding the 2009-2014 Obama Administration policy of “reset” with Vladimir Putin’s Russia is to recall two iconic incidents. The first was the 2009 “reset.” Newly appointed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that she would pursue a “reset” détente with Russia. America would relax the prior Bush

Victor Davis Hanson American Greatness Chaos is the new, the intentional, normal. A pandemic of nihilism has been unleashed upon the land. As in Lord of the Flies, when laws, rules, protocols, traditions, and customs are mocked and dismantled, primitive human nature in the raw is unleashed. Madness now reigns in every quarter, from the

Victor Davis Hanson American Greatness Americans want an autonomous Ukraine to survive. They hope the West can stop Russian President Vladimir Putin’s strangulation of both Ukraine and NATO. Yet Americans do not want their troops to venture across the world to Europe’s backyard to fight nuclear Russia to ensure that Ukraine stays independent. Most Americans