Trump v EU politics

Christopher Caldwell Hillsdale lecture

One of the few eminent American observers of European politics, Chris Caldwell, went to Hillsdale to give a lecture on Trump v. the EU. I recommend this to your attention, because it gives a very good view of the ongoing conflict between America & Europe, which has been growing continuously since 1989. American elites are in a civil war, & however it shakes out, the American interpretation of the post-Cold War situation & the interpretation European elites have are very different. That they are different is obvious simply in this fact, that European elites are not comparably divided against themselves.

Especially for people who prefer conservatives & Republicans politically, it’s necessary to realize that the future of the party depends on men, not women, on a few politicians like J.D. Vance, Ron DeSantis, Marco Rubio, not on donors who prefer Nikki Haley, &, finally, on institutionalizing the Trump coalition, not recurring the impotent figures he threw out of the first rank of the party.

Getting the relationship to Europe right is the major test of foreign policy for these politicians, because American entanglement with European elites has been one of the major problems for American politics. Partly, that’s because European elites hate America. Partly, because American liberals like to ally with liberal elites against America. Partly, because Republicans are utterly incompetent at diplomacy, neither making allies nor punishing traitors. Achieving the right kind of separation from European nonsense is urgent, not least so that Americans have a useful ally in Europe, from.