Today, H.R. McMaster speaks with a former French ambassador to the US about the rise of the far right across Europe and recent social instability in France; Dominic Parker examines the forces influencing the location of data centers as well as opposition to such projects; and Jonathan Gienapp remembers the impactful constitutional vision of American Founder James Wilson.
European Affairs
In an episode of Today’s Battlegrounds, former French ambassador to the US Philippe Étienne joins Senior Fellow H.R. McMaster to discuss the rise of the far right, France’s economic challenges, the future of European security, and the 2027 French presidential election. Reflecting on the recent wave of protests and social unrest in France, Étienne examines the sources of growing political polarization, the pressures of public debt and economic stagnation, and Russia’s efforts to exploit divisions within Western democracies. Étienne and McMaster then discuss the war in Ukraine, the future of the transatlantic alliance, Europe’s need to strengthen its defense capabilities, and the strategic challenges posed by China. The conversation also covers Russian influence in Africa, the deteriorating security situation in the Sahel, and the ongoing conflicts and security challenges in the Middle East. Watch or listen here.
Economics and AI
This research paper from Senior Fellow Dominic Parker and coauthor Grant Jacobsen examines local factors associated with the location of data center projects—and with opposition to such projects. The authors’ primary finding is that “Democratic vote share is a uniquely strong predictor of opposition despite bipartisan concern about AI in national polls.” This finding suggests that future data center projects are more likely to “gravitate to Republican counties.” Given that these counties, on average, have more reliable grids but higher carbon emission rates, future data center construction—if subject to local regulatory control—may “lead to data centers using more reliable but dirtier and arguably less affordable energy relative to an expansion that was independent of local political makeup.” The authors write that this is a trade-off that comes with local regulatory control over projects like data centers. They also find that, so far, data center construction has tended to concentrate in “relatively high-income and prosperous counties,” in a pattern that breaks with “the placement of other locally undesirable infrastructure.” Read more here.
Freedom Frequency
James Wilson, less remembered than other heroes of the American Revolution, helped shape all three branches of government through a constitutional vision that enshrined popular sovereignty, Research Fellow Jonathan Gienapp explains for the Founders & Fellows series. Wilson, influenced by the thinkers of the Scottish Enlightenment, firmly believed that people’s innate moral sense—and common sense—empowered them to rule themselves. In keeping with that belief, he helped shape the Constitution’s opening language: “We the People of the United States.” Gienapp writes that Wilson’s reputation was damaged by his initial principled resistance to independence and his legal defense of Philadelphia loyalists who were on trial for treason. Later, he served as an early but unsuccessful Supreme Court justice, Gienapp says, and died in debt. But his legacy, concludes the historian and Stanford Law School professor, includes the idea that the American people are worthy of self-government, and that government in America must be worthy of them. Read more here.
Hoover Institution News
In The Triumph of Economic Freedom: Debunking the Seven Great Myths of American Capitalism, Donald J. Boudreaux of the Mercatus Center and former US senator Phil Gramm argue that capitalism’s history is widely misunderstood and that economic freedom—not government management—is the main driver of prosperity. “This book stands out among many that describe the benefits of the free market, by focusing on the false myths of history taught at school,” said Senior Fellow John H. Cochrane, who hosted a conversation about the book at Hoover on September 30. “I have heard some even repeated inside the hallowed walls of the Hoover Institution—things like inequality is rising fast, or that China has severely damaged the US economy. These myths are false.” In a talk sponsored by Hoover’s Economic Policy Working Group, Gramm and Boudreaux broke down the seven main points of the book. Read more here.
Confronting and Competing with China
In a new episode of China Considered, Senior Fellow Elizabeth Economy speaks with Isaac Kardon, a leading scholar of China’s maritime strategy, to examine how the United States and China are coexisting, conflicting, and sometimes confronting each other across the Indo-Pacific region. Kardon explains why he calls China “hyper-sovereigntist”—opposed to conflict in principle but doing next to nothing to prevent it in practice—and lays out Beijing’s three security goals in the region: asserting sovereignty over Taiwan and other claimed territory, weakening America’s military position and alliances, and securing the trade routes and resources it would need to weather a prolonged crisis. Kardon also assesses the People’s Liberation Army’s readiness for operations against Taiwan, from cyberattacks and blockades to a full-scale invasion, along with how the Iran war has affected US readiness and whether Russia, Iran, and North Korea would join a conflict. The conversation also touches on recommendations for current US policy toward China. Watch or listen here.
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