"Strong minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, weak minds discuss people." contributed to Socrates
Weekly Highlights 12 August 2025
Ideas: Political Philosophy/Ideologies
The Dark Horses: From Campus Villains to Political Peacemakers: Interview of Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying | The Glenn Beck Podcast | Episode 117
Notes on Nationalism | George Orwell | The Orwell Foundation
Why the Elites Have Lost Control | Martin Gurri | The Glenn Beck Podcast | Episode 100
A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths | Bruce Feiler Abraham | C-Span Booknotes
Evil: An Investigation | Lance Morrow | C-Span Booknotes
Future of a ruined Germany | George Orwell | The Guardian
Democracy Promotion is Dead: Good Riddance | Francis P. Sempa | Real Clear Defense
The Problem of the State on the Right | Gabriel Elefteriu | Brussel Signal
In a Liberal Society, Equity is a False Idol | Will Marshall | The Hill
Democracy Needs Religion—but Which? | Peter J. Leithart | First Things
Events: The West-Russo-Ukrainian Crisis
Fuhgeddaboudit --Trying to Speculate Takes You Nowhere on Ukraine | Stephen Bryen | Weapons and Strategy
How Trump's latest Ukraine negotiation efforts could fail | Stephen R. Weissman | Responsible Statecraft
Ukraine Will Not Cede Land, Zelenskiy says, as Trump, Putin Plan Meeting | Andrea Shalal | Reuters
Kurt Volker: We Should Never Recognize Russian Occupation Of East Ukraine, But We Can Have A Ceasefire | Posted By Tim Hains | Real Clear Politics
Europe and Ukraine: defeat of Moscow a miscalculation of Napoleonic proportions | Konstantinos Bogdanos | Brussels Signal
NATO’s Dutch Disease: Can a Wartime Mindset Survive an Injection of Resources? | Foreign Dr Benjamin Day and Dr Roderick Parkes | Policy Research Institute
Trump's Terms for Russia-Ukraine on the Right Course for Peace | Anatol Lieven | Responsible Statecraft
The Guardian View on Putin’s propaganda: The Strongman Myth Hides Great Strategic Weakness | The Guardian Editorial | The Guardian
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
The Guardian View on Israel’s Gaza Takeover Plan: A Destructive Act that Must Be Stopped | The Guardian Editorial | The Guardian
Hamas’ Terror Has Expanded | J.T. Young | Real Clear World
Palestinian Man Tortured to Death by Hamas Militants after Criticizing Group and Attending Protests, Family Says | Ibrahim Dahman and Nadeen Ebrahim | CNN
Recognising Palestine Shows ‘Desperate Weakness of Judgment and Purpose’ | Conrad Black | Brussels Signal
People: US Politics
Don’t Worry About Donald Trump. Worry About Yourself | Martin Gurri | The Free Press
A Better Plan To Save Dems From Their Increasingly Empty Tent | Mark Penn | X
What About the Speck in Your Eye? | J. Peder Zane | Real Clear Politics
Halperin: The Debanking Of Conservatives Is One Of The Most Undercovered Stories Of The Last 10 Years | Posted by Ian Schwartz | Real Clear Politics
Quiet Revolt Against DEI Led by Black and Hispanic Americans | Daniel Idfresne | Real Clear Politics
The author is a former United States Government intelligence analyst for over a decade and worked for the National Republican Senatorial Committee for several years. The author holds a Bachelor of Arts in Government and Politics and a Master's in Public Policy, along with a Certificate in National Security from George Mason University. The author also received three certificates in Weapons of Mass Destruction from the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences and the Henry M. Jackson Foundation. The author contributed a chapter to the book "A Time of War, A Time of Peace: Latter-Day Saint Ethics of War and Diplomacy."