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** Daily Newsletter: JANUARY 23, 2026
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** In today’s newsletter:
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HADLEY ARKES: Trump, Interventions, and Regimes to Topple ([link removed])
MATTHEW X. WILSON: Gen Z Conspiracism Is a Gift to the Left ([link removed])
R. R. RENO: Christmas Nationalism ([link removed])
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** Trump, Interventions, and Regimes to Topple ([link removed])
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** Hadley Arkes
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Hadley Arkes takes on the question of regime change, weighing Trump’s actions in Venezuela against those of his predecessors, from Abraham Lincoln to John F. Kennedy: “[Trump] produces wreckage wherever he goes, and yet his swashbuckling use of power may indeed rid us of the regimes in Iran and Venezuela—maybe even Cuba, as the last shoe to fall.”
For further reading: Editor Rusty Reno weighed the moral implications of nabbing Maduro in “Trump’s Caracas Gambit ([link removed]) .”
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** Gen Z Conspiracism Is a Gift to the Left ([link removed])
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** Matthew X. Wilson
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There is growing talk on the right about the “existential” threat of anti-Semitism among its younger members, especially since a nineteen-year-old tried to burn down a Mississippi synagogue. And yet, overstating the problem of anti-Semitism among Gen Z will further alienate an already cynical generation, Matthew X. Wilson argues. Instead, right-wing authorities need to show a productive path forward for those who feel disenfranchised.
For further reading: Last year, James R. Wood addressed this problem in “Unmanly Anti-Semitism ([link removed]) .” He urged conservative young men who blame the Jews for their problems to buck up and work on themselves.
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** Christmas Nationalism ([link removed])
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** R. R. Reno
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From the February issue: Shortly before Christmas, English nationalists held a demonstration in front of 10 Downing Street that involved singing carols and banners that declared “Christ is King.” Anglican bishops decried the “racism and anti-migrant rhetoric” from these Christian nationalists, exposing competing visions of political Christianity. Rusty Reno writes that Christianity necessarily has political implications, and balancing its calls to both inclusivity and love of specific people and places is the difficult work of building polity rooted in charity.
For further reading: From Rusty, “The open society, with its vision of a civilization of inclusion, encourages philanthropy but undermines love.” For more in this vein, read “The Love Society and Its Enemies ([link removed]) ” (May 2025).
Upcoming Events
* February 1, 2026: Second Annual Neuhaus Lecture at the New College of Florida: “Recovering the University’s Soul” ft. Bishop Robert Barron | Sarasota, FL. Register here ([link removed])
* February 3, 2026: Second Annual Angelicum Aquinas Lecture: “A Conversation with the Theologian of the Papal Household” ft. Fr. Wojciech Giertych, O.P. | New York, NY. Register here ([link removed]) .
* March 5, 2026: Annual D.C. Lecture: “Our Crisis is Metaphysical” ft. Mary Harrington | Washington, D.C. Register here ([link removed]) .
Until next time,
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VIRGINIA AABRAM
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Newsletter Editor
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