Hegseth to Europe: Don’t Look to America for Leadership
Plus: The China Issue
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GISELLE DONNELLY: Hegseth to Europe: Don’t Look to America for Leadership
FOR MORE THAN FOUR CENTURIES, the principal geopolitical concern of Americans has been the European great-power balance. The Jamestown colony was sited to defend against the threat of Spanish raiders. Throughout the eighteenth century, settlers on the frontier demanded the conquest of Canada—or “New France,” as it was known in Paris. In many ways, America’s formative military experience was not the revolution of 1775–1783 but the French and Indian War of 1754–1763, part of the worldwide Seven Years’ War between the United Kingdom and France over colonial dominance. Twice in the twentieth century, American soldiers crossed the Atlantic to beat back German bids for European hegemony. From 1945 to 1991, the United States led a coalition of freedom-loving allies to contain and then to liberate the Soviet Empire. The result has been an unprecedented era of peace, prosperity, and liberty.
HOLLY BERKLEY FLETCHER: What USAID’s Dismantling Looks Like on the Ground in Africa
JOHN IS OLD ENOUGH TO REMEMBER the dark days when AIDS ravaged his country and his family. Living in Malawi, he has seen up close the difference made by the lifesaving work of PEPFAR, which is administered in large part through the U.S. Agency for International Development. For him, the American government has been a steady, sustaining presence for many years through a multiplicity of programs under the umbrella of USAID. He had believed it was a relationship of mutual benefit to Malawi and America.
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Across the Movie Aisle: The Next Gen of Movie Stars?
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SONNY BUNCH: The China Issue
I’m sure much will be made about the domestic politics of Captain America: Brave New World—after all, this is a movie about a belligerent president transforming into a bright-red rage monster when he loses control of his temper—but it’s all so milquetoast (and the conclusion to said rage monster’s journey such naïve wish fulfillment) that I’m not sure there’s much to say about it. (I’m sure we’ll find something on Across the Movie Aisle when we review it in two weeks.)
🚨OVERTIME🚨
Happy Friday! I hope that you’re having a good Valentine’s Day.
🎵On the Jukebox… 🎵 Sam Fender — Remember My Name
Donald Trump’s Executive Order Scrapping Birthright Citizenship… Will Affect the Native Born Too: A Roundup (Berny Belvedere, The UnPopulist)
Leopards… Eating faces. Some people need to listen to Trump read “The Snake” because I am not sure it got through.
Quote of the Day:
“If no lawyer within earshot of the president is willing to give him that advice, then I expect you will eventually find someone who is enough of a fool, or enough of a coward, to file your motion. But it was never going to be me.”
—Hagan Scotten’s DOJ resignation letter.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove told the department's career public integrity prosecutors in a meeting on Friday that they had an hour to decide among themselves who would file the motion, the sources said.
We live in The Joker’s world now.
Elon Musk’s DOGE… Posts Classified Data On Its New Website (HuffPo)
Woe’s Hollow… For you Severance fans out there, the S2E4 podcast for the “Woe’s Hollow” episode is up, and if you love the score, Theodore Shapiro joins and it’s a real treat.
James Murdoch on mind games, sibling rivalry… and the war for the family media empire (McKay Coppins, The Atlantic🎁)
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Editorial photos provided by Getty Images. For full credits, please consult the article.