Today, Michael McFaul argues our fight against autocratic regimes abroad will be more successful if we boost our democratic system and freedoms at home. Rishi Sunak cautions readers not to see a recent trade détente between China and the US as a return of the free trade previous free trade orthodoxy. And Justice Anthony Kennedy visits Hoover and participates in a fireside chat about his life, his work on the bench, and his relationships with other Supreme Court justices.
Determining America’s Role in the World
In an excerpt from his new book, Autocrats vs. Democrats: China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder, Senior Fellow Michael McFaul argues that one facet of success in America’s new great-power competition with Russia and China involves getting our own democratic house in order. Democracies have been receding around the globe for the better part of two decades, McFaul writes, and troubling signs of our republic’s health have surfaced in recent years as well. McFaul argues the US needs to enact new measures to boost voter turnout, make political primaries open, responsibly regulate AI development, and ensure better adherence to the Constitution by the executive branch. He says his suggestions are not partisan. “I aim to suggest reforms that would strengthen American democratic institutions — the rules of the game of democracy — without wading into policy debates between Republicans and Democrats or conservatives and liberals.” Read more here.
Writing in The Times (London), Distinguished visiting fellow and former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says that the recent dial-back of trade tensions between the US and China should not be mistaken for a return to the pre-2020 era of globalization and disparate supply chains. He says three factors—the rise of China and its unfair trade practices, the panic of COVID-19 that placed a huge emphasis on domestic supply chains, and the “Liberation Day” tariffs by the Trump administration in April—have put an end to that era. He believes the US tariff regime will in large part remain even after Trump leaves office. “These US tariffs will be a feature of the global economy for the foreseeable future, and business will have to adjust to them,” Sunak writes. “They will not leave the scene with Trump, in much the same way that the tariffs he imposed in his first term stayed in place under Biden.” Read more here.
Revitalizing American Institutions
The Hoover Institution hosted a Fireside Chat with Justice Anthony M. Kennedy and Director Condoleezza Rice on October 31 to discuss Justice Kennedy’s book Life, Law & Liberty: A Memoir. Throughout his 30-year tenure on the US Supreme Court, Kennedy authored landmark opinions on some of the most important issues facing America. Often defying expectations, Kennedy, in his pursuit of equal justice, helped define the law of the land for a generation. His pivotal vote in closely watched 5–4 decisions led Time magazine to call him “the Decider.” Rice asked him about his upbringing, including the example set by his studious, politically active mother, and he also recalled poignant moments with some of his colleagues on the Supreme Court bench. Watch the conversation here.
Writing in RealClearPolitics, Senior Fellow Peter Berkowitz evaluates the impact of the Trump administration’s “Compact for Excellence in Higher Education,” arguing it overreached in attempting to address the poor record universities have shown in recent years at fostering truly open debate, instead exacerbating concerns about free expression. He offers a variety of changes to the compact’s approach that would better empower universities as open marketplaces of ideas, reward them for teaching courses on topics such as the liberty of thought, and fund the creation of more efforts to teach civic thought. Read more here.
On NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday, Senior Fellow Michael McConnell spoke to host Ayesha Rascoe about the upcoming Supreme Court case involving the constitutionality of Trump’s tariffs moves. Justices will consider whether a president may use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose tariffs, as Trump has, on the grounds that a trade imbalance is an economic emergency or to punish another state for negatively impacting US national security. If Trump wins at the Supreme Court, McConnell predicts, trade policy in the US will never be the same, and future presidents will not feel compelled to enter into or comply with trade treaties. Listen to their conversation here.
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