Making Sense of the American Right and Left

A conversation with Uriel Epshtein, Bret Stephens, and Steve Israel.

Uriel Epshtein: What does it mean to be on the American Right today?

Bret Stephens: There have always been two versions of the Right in modern American life. One is conservative in the sense that it aims to conserve a liberal republic. That is to say, a republic centered on ideas of individual rights and individual freedom of action. The old-fashioned conservative—the conservative I was and actually feel I still am—believes in institutions like family, business, and religion because we think that it creates individuals who are best capable of exercising liberty. But liberty is what this conservatism is trying to preserve.

Then there's another idea of the Right, and that is illiberalism. It's the opposite of that old-fashioned conservative idea.

It is opposed to the liberal idea because it valorizes things like the nation, an idea of peoplehood above all else.

And it's not afraid to trample on individual liberties, whether they're economic liberties like free trade or freedom of speech. Not least the free movement of people through an open and generous system of immigration, which in my view has always served the country well. So this is the real divide on the Right today. It's really between a Right that believes in liberty and a Right that is essentially nationalist.

The Department of Justice released documents detailing a Russian influence operation targeting influencers and creators in American right-wing media. The goal of the operation was to “create platforms on US social networks in order to strengthen pro-Russian sentiments.” So far, two employees from the Russian state media company Russia Today have been indicted. Whether that stops right-wing influencers from parroting Russian propaganda is an open question.

2. For my friends, everything. For my enemies, the law.

In the second episode of The Atlantic’s “Autocracy in America,” RDI advisor Anne Applebaum and journalist Peter Pomerantsev dive into how dictators politicize the rule of law to hold on to power and how that is happening in the US. They look into the case of Renée Diresta—a researcher who was studying disinformation surrounding the 2020 election and was later targeted by the House Judiciary Committee because of her research.

3. Telling the truth without getting anyone killed.

Former President Donald Trump survived a second assassination attempt this past Sunday. The gunman fled before he was able to fire on the President, but he was successful in further cementing political violence as a norm in American democracy. After the first attempt on Trump's life, RDI CEO Uriel Epshtein addressed this troubling trend, arguing that we must honestly recognize internal threats to our democratic system without advocating for violent ways to stop them.

4. Taiwan and Ukraine are connected. But it’s not what you think.

Despite sweeping sanctions from much of the democratic world, Russia still has access to critical hardware to build its weapons. A recent investigation by war reporters at The Counteroffensive showed the public what exactly goes into building Russian missiles that strike Ukrainian cities. Inside the missiles, dozens of foreign components were found, including chips manufactured in Taiwan.

5. Mexico’s democratic institutions are dissolving.

A few weeks before leaving office, Mexico’s president Andrés Manuel López Obrador harassed the Mexican Congress into accepting a plan that would make judges subject to elections rather than appointments. This means that candidates who want to serve in Mexico’s courts would have to first seek endorsements from the ruling political party, effectively giving Obrador’s party full control over the courts.

The Dictators Behind Venezuela’s Unraveling

By Sohan Mewada — September 12, 2024

We are proud to announce that Félix Maradiaga has officially joined RDI as a senior fellow.

As a human rights advocate and thought leader in nonviolent resistance strategy, he is widely recognized as one of the leading voices within the Nicaraguan democratic opposition.

He currently serves as the president of the Foundation for the Freedom of Nicaragua. Additionally, he initiated the international campaign End Arbitrary Detention to raise awareness about the predicament of political detainees all over the world.

During the widespread protests against the Daniel Ortega regime in 2018, he faced numerous criminal charges and smear campaigns. In July 2021, he was arbitrarily arrested after announcing his intentions to run for president. He was then sent to a maximum-security prison, where he endured inhumane conditions for 21 months.

In February 2023, he and 221 other political prisoners were expelled to the United States after the regime revoked their Nicaraguan nationality and confiscated their assets.

Félix is a co-author of various books and over a hundred articles and essays. His work primarily focuses on the decay of democracy in Latin America and the collaboration of autocratic regimes worldwide.

At RDI, Félix will be exploring crucial developments like Russia and Iran’s influence in Latin America, Russian disinformation in the Spanish-speaking world, and dictators’ increasing collaboration across the global South.