Morning Glory: Which nation leads ‘the West?’

Which country is the leader of the “West”?

To answer that question, we first need to define what “the West” is.

There are 100 definitions, in fact, an entire PBS series is dedicated to that question. Civilization: The West and the Rest with Niall Ferguson was published in his 2012 year, and the accomplished historian published a sister book with the same title around the same time.

The book’s summary states, “In Civilization: The West and the Rest, best-selling author Niall Ferguson writes that in the early 15th century, the West developed six powerful new concepts that the rest lacked.” competition, science, the rule of law, consumerism, modern medicine, and work ethics.

These characteristics are excellent and can easily be applied to eliminate “Western” autocracies such as the People’s Republic of China, Russia, Iran, and their puppet and proxy states. But it does not include the essential element: freedom. “The West” is defined by this essential and essential characteristic. It is an important measure of personal freedom. That freedom must include the rule of law, not the rule of tyrants and oligarchy. There is no rule of law that can be easily manipulated or circumvented. There cannot be a secret police in any member state of the “West” operating without restraint or supervision, relying solely on the instructions of an unaccountable tyrant.

Members of the “West” hold regular free elections and guarantee their citizens freedom of conscience, speech, and movement within their borders. The constitutions of member states may be codified, such as in the United States, or unwritten, such as in the United Kingdom.

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States in the “West” are large and small, rich and poor, and have been found on every continent since at least the end of World War II. Countries can be part of the ‘West’ and then lose that status, as happened with Venezuela, or they can become part of the ‘West’, as happened with many former members of the now-defunct Warsaw Pact. They aim to join the ‘West’ and may eventually join or rejoin. ” Poland is one of such countries, as well as many other countries surrounding Ukraine. Ukraine aspires to be part of the “West” and continues to fight to keep that dream alive, with its people suffering and thousands dying. Japan was once a tyrant and an empire, but it was defeated by the Allies in 1945 and is now one of the leaders of the Western nations.

As the definition becomes clearer, the first question becomes increasingly difficult to answer. “Which country is leading the West?”

Until December 7, 1941, the leader of the “West” was Britain, which stood alone after Hitler’s Germany defeated France in 1940. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States was thrust into that role and continued to remain there without question. These 10 years. Actually, until recently.

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Now, there is reason to doubt leadership, as the US has failed to play its role since 10/7, repeatedly falling into disastrous ambiguity and sometimes confusion about the nature of the “Western” alliance. . It is highly questionable whether we can be trusted as allies or enemies of tyrants and madmen. Immediately after the defeat in the Vietnam War, a similar case of paralysis struck us during the time of President Jimmy Carter. President Ronald Reagan healed and restored us. The paralysis that characterized America in the late 1970s has returned.

Although the United States remains the richest and most powerful country in the world, it is now internally divided and deeply confused about good and evil, friends and enemies. President Biden is already ailing and seems increasingly incoherent and headed toward incompetence, but by operation of the Constitution he is the commander-in-chief of an extremely powerful military. We don’t know what he’s like in his private life, and many Americans suspect he doesn’t have full control of the executive branch. Indeed, many suspect that some of our allies are concerned about his “leadership.”

President Biden’s weakness and increasingly incoherent behavior is raising questions around the world about who is really in charge of this country. Of course, very few people will say this out loud. Even if the president does not, America’s punitive powers remain strong. So while the enemy plots and plans, the allies pretend that everything is fine. But the collapse of Afghanistan showed the world that the US is run by a bunch of weak idiots with titles, if not actually led by very old people with limited abilities. Because of this, it is difficult for the United States to claim that it is “leading.” “Anything goes these days.

If “the West”, understood as a group of nations committed to all the things mentioned above, has any leadership at the moment, Israel is stepping into the vacuum left by the United States, paralyzed by national weakness. Seems like the only candidate qualified to step in. That leadership. But Israel, too, is under siege on the world stage and at war with a ruthless enemy, the United States is divided on Israel, and the Democratic left is clear that Israel will actually win and destroy its military. I am concerned that this may be the case. Hamas, and perhaps later Hezbollah.

If the United States cannot stand squarely on the side of Israel’s victory over the evil terrorist puppets of an evil theocracy, then we will at least assume the title of leader of the “West” for a season. must be abandoned. Israel is the least likely country to be the bravest defender of the West’s noblest and best traditions, but the reality exists. Lonely and besieged, with weak allies and an absurd world media elite who have lost all sense of why they are liberals. In the press, this country, born in 1948, is still very young, but it is very much a warrior nation, and no matter how despicable its internal politics, it has never lost sight of its purpose.

Leo Strauss, the most important political theorist of the last century, wrote in the preface to his essay collection City and Man:

“No matter how much the power of the West has declined, no matter how great the danger to the West, its decline, its danger, nay, defeat, even destruction of the West, the West is in crisis. The West’s purpose is certain, but the crisis for the West is that it has become uncertain about its purpose. ”

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Israel is not unsure of its purpose. This is clearly the case in America, or at least in the current executive branch. If you have other candidates to lead the Western world, please nominate them or work to restore America to its former position. Until that happens, all citizens of the Western world who seek a country committed to the freedom of its people and defending that freedom even at the cost of great loss of life and property must learn from Israel’s example and be willing to do so. There will be. Developing the weapons necessary to thwart the enemies of freedom who have openly organized against “the West.”

Hugh Hewitt is the host of “The Hugh Hewitt Show,” which airs weekdays from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. ET on the Salem Radio Network and is simulcast on the Salem News Channel. There is. Hugh Wakes America Up on all streaming platforms available on SNC, with over 400 affiliates across the country. He is a frequent guest on the Fox His News channel’s News His Roundtable, hosted by Bret Baier weekdays at 6pm ET. A son of Ohio State and a graduate of Harvard University and the University of Michigan Law School, Mr. Hewitt has been a professor of law at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law since 1996, teaching constitutional law. Hewitt launched his own eponymous radio show from Los Angeles in 1990. Hewitt appeared frequently on every major national news network, PBS and MSNBC, wrote for every major American newspaper, wrote 12 books, and He hosted a Republican program. Candidate debates, most recently the November 2023 Republican presidential debate in Miami and the four Republican presidential debates in the 2015-2016 cycle. Hewitt focuses his radio show and columns on the Constitution, national security, American politics, the Cleveland Browns and the Guardians. Hewitt has interviewed tens of thousands of guests during his 40 years in broadcasting, from Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Kerry to Republicans George W. Bush and President Donald Trump. This column previews the key stories that drive his radio/television show today.

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