“The Abbey in the Oakwood” (Abtei im Eichwald) by Caspar David Friedrich (1810)
Modern German Romanticism
A Ruinous Obsession

How a nation that loved ruins was itself reduced to rubble—and in its own ashes discovered new, impossible ideals.

(Wikimedia Commons)
Herder vs. Fichte
Nationalism Is Not (Always) The Enemy of Liberalism

In the 19th century, nationalists were the standard-bearers of liberalism—democratic, forward-looking, progressive. This is no longer the case. 

Ville Miettinen, via Wikimedia Commons
Juggernaut
India’s Pollution Problem—And Ours

India’s growth can zero out all the world’s environmental measures.

Ukraine's Paramilitaries
The Outlaws

I left the hotel in Odessa just as the sun setting. Well-dressed citizens were wandering under the chestnuts of Pushkin Avenue in a picture of post-communist affluence, as life-weary teenagers smoked weed under the statue of the city’s modern founder, the Duke de Richelieu. Everywhere you looked, in every vista, the blue and yellow Ukrainian […]

JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images
A Tragedy in Four Acts
A Game of Brexit

What the loss of Theresa May’s Chief of Staff means for the Brexit negotiations.

BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP/Getty Images
Moral Panics
Fear and Loathing of Donald Trump

Reactions to Trump show that elites are also susceptible to collective moods.

Andrew Burton/Getty Images
Endgame in Syria?
A Sad Metaphor

Ambassador Samantha Power’s outburst against Russia at the UN aptly symbolizes the decay of the American-led global order.

Europe's Future
The Man Who Disliked Saints

Hailed as a prophet and reviled as a racist, Jean Raspail novelized Europe’s immigration crisis—forty years before it happened.

Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
the migrant crisis
The Widening Gyre

Europe’s migration crisis is not over. It is spreading.

© Getty Images
after paris
The End of the Fifth Republic?

When the terrorists once again struck France on November 13, the country has shown a different, more authoritarian side than in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo outrage.

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
© The American Interest LLC 2005-2024
About Us Privacy
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.