Today, Peter Robinson shares stories from his career and experiences working with intellectual giants across recent decades; Michael McFaul appraises the Trump administration’s recent diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine; and Russell Berman considers the regional implications of Israel’s recently announced plan to reenter Gaza City.
Politics, Institutions, and Public Opinion
As part of a long-running series of interviews with public figures and authors for his personal website, investor and adjunct professor of law at New York University Max Raskin recently spoke with Distinguished Policy Fellow and Uncommon Knowledge host Peter M. Robinson. Robinson offers a detailed account of his time working for William F. Buckley Jr. as a research assistant for two months in the winter of 1987–88 and recounts how mornings of intense written work would be followed by skiing, more writing, and afternoon jazz listening. Robinson also shares what it was like to work for Ronald Reagan as a speechwriter. “Reagan was wonderfully gregarious, totally lovable, and seemed to promise friendship,” says Robinson, “but there was always a distance in the end. He was always self-contained in the end.” Read more here.
International Affairs
Writing at his Substack, Senior Fellow Michael McFaul analyzes the aftermath of the Trump administration’s recent diplomatic push to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, with buy-in from European allies. McFaul writes that he has supported “President Trump’s efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine” and “his decision to engage directly with Russian officials.” Yet he notes that diplomatic success “is judged by results, not effort.” After arguing that the meeting with Putin helped to legitimize the Russian autocrat while achieving no results, McFaul suggests that the recent White House meeting with Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy and other European heads of state helped “to stop the bleeding from Alaska.” McFaul concludes that to be successful in pursuing peace, President Trump will need to increase pressure on Russia through increased sanctions or US assistance to Ukraine. Read more here.
In a new essay for Defining Ideas, Senior Fellow Russell A. Berman appraises the plan by the Israeli government “to take control of Gaza City, historically the dominant and largest urban center in the Gaza Strip.” Berman argues that the new plan by Israel to reengage militarily in Gaza City should be understood in the context of the January 2025 ceasefire between Israel and Hamas breaking down. Noting that the proposed Gaza City “invasion has not yet gone into full gear,” Berman says that now is when “war, or the threat of war, turns into politics by other means, to use Clausewitz’s famous formula.” In his view, the credible threat of “a full-fledged invasion has led to an acceleration of negotiation efforts.” Berman’s piece reviews the factors promoting both peace and war, before concluding that “the extensive diplomacy necessary” to embark on a post-conflict governance and rebuilding campaign in Gaza “appears to be lacking.” Read more here.
California Politics and Policy
At California on Your Mind, Distinguished Policy Fellow Bill Whalen examines how the push by California Governor Gavin Newsom and the Democratic Party–controlled State Assembly to redraw California’s congressional districts (in response to a similar effort by Republican lawmakers in Texas) could affect the California gubernatorial race in 2026. Whalen suggests that by touting their opposition to the Trump administration agenda, a crowded field of Democratic contenders for the Golden State governorship could create an opening for a more moderate candidate like Rick Caruso, a developer and former candidate for mayor of Los Angeles. After considering other possible political implications of the redistricting effort, Whalen leaves readers with a key question, yet to be answered: “Will California voters buy the notion that partisan redistricting in the Golden State is a necessary safeguard against fears of an imperial presidency?” Read more here.
Confronting and Competing with China
In an essay for The Atlantic, Research Fellow Dan Wang outlines some of the central arguments in his forthcoming book, Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future. Wang contrasts the “lawyerly” society of the United States, defined by a concern for individual rights, with the “engineering culture” of contemporary China, focused on “physically building better cars, better-functioning cities, and bigger power plants.” While noting that America’s lawyerly disposition has important advantages, like securing a stable rule of law conducive to investment and property rights protections, Wang makes the case that to compete effectively with China, the US should try to adopt more of an engineering mindset toward solving large-scale problems. As he concludes, “Ultimately, if America refuses to build, it will be subject to the whims of countries that do.” Read more or listen here. [Subscription required]
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