Daniel Warner

Great powers decline twice: first in reality, then in imagination. The deeper question is not whether China will surpass the United States economically or militarily, but whether anyone under the age of thirty still identifies with the American archetype of Marlboro cigarettes, vintage denim, and all. When that desire fades, the empire is already halfway gone.

Michael Jackson’s biopic Michael is a box-office phenomenon. It earned $217 million worldwide on opening weekend, the biggest debut ever for a biographical film. But the movie has almost nothing to say about multiple allegations of Jackson’s child sexual abuse. Donald Trump commands a similar public fascination. The civil finding that he sexually abused E. Jean Carroll, along with controversies such as Todd Blanche’s approval of Trump’s $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” are part of a broader swirl of legal and ethical questions surrounding his presidency. Even so, they barely interrupt the spectacle around him.

The upcoming June 14 vote on limiting Switzerland’s population to 10 million is a daily reminder here in Geneva that nativist populism remains a powerful

The upcoming June 14 vote on limiting Switzerland’s population to 10 million is a daily reminder here in Geneva that nativist populism remains a powerful political force. In France, Marine Le Pen continues to build support on anti-immigration politics. Nigel Farage pushes similar anxieties in Britain. The AfD does the same in Germany. Donald Trump’s More

Bill Clinton mediates the handshake between Yitzak Rabin and Yassir Arafat outside the White House on September 13, 1993. Photo: White House Historical Association.

The United States is going through a period of gloom and doom. Confidence in its institutions has fallen, politics is deeply polarized, and talk of

Trump and the Macrons at Versailles. (Screengrab from CSPAN.) Donald Trump's visit to Évian and Versailles offered this Geneva resident an

The tenth anniversary of the British vote to leave the European Union raises two immediate questions: Was it worth it? Can it be undone? The answer to the first is increasingly clear. Experts generally agree that the British economy has suffered for a decade, accompanied by political instability. The second question is more complex. Democracies are built on the assumption that citizens can change their minds. Elect a new government. Hold another referendum. Reverse course. But can a nation ever truly return to where it was before a fateful decision?

Bombs fly after a cease-fire is announced in wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. Are these announcements real steps towards peace or just a distraction?

Trump's diatribe against communism assumes that the United States won the Cold War both strategically and ideologically. If you even read Karl Marx, the implication is that you are embracing a failed worldview and are therefore not a true American. The implied narrative is that Marxism belongs to history's losers, while American capitalism belongs to history's winners. That is his assumed cause and effect.