George Harrell

The tangle of Eastern European alliances and aggressive expansionism is an essential part of understanding the constraints around French and British foreign policy in the interwar years.

"Postliberals want to develop their own elite to rival the decadent liberal elite and thereby usher in the postliberal order. Vermeule is confident that most Americans do not really know what they want, simply taking what elites give them. Once postliberals take over elite institutions, most Americans will accept postliberalism. This optimism makes sense given that postliberals view all but a few as sheep. Reliance on people’s alleged passivity also suggests, lip service aside, that one isn’t much concerned with the truth of one’s ideology. "How most of us populate the unwashed masses, while these strongmen have perfect wisdom and moral self-governance, is never explained. The authors suggest that Deneen and Vermeule fancy themselves as such leaders. Perhaps this goes too far, but even if key postliberals are more modest about their own abilities, the mystery remains as to how they would identify the führers who should rule us." A very enjoyable review of @McGillPatterson and @ThomasDHowes book: "Why Postliberalism Failed" for @libertarianism

'If one starts with the “natural” orders of race, nation, and political authority and then applies the classic maxim ["grace does not destroy nature but perfects it"], "grace" will increasingly turn out to mean little more than baptizing what the theologian already thinks nature requires.' Really good book review by @jamesrwoodtheo of "Karl Barth and the Idolatry of the Nation: Confronting Christian Nationalism" for @firstthingsmag

The end of the Pax Americana is becoming evident in places like Yemen, Ukraine, and Iran, but this is not a voluntary policy shift; it is the result of hard limits that were evident years ago.