https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/february-15-2026
"The Trump administration’s white nationalist project was on full display this
weekend at the 62nd Munich Security Conference that took place from February 13
to 15, 2026. The Munich Security Conference is the leading international forum
for discussions of security policy. It was begun in 1963, at the height of the
Cold War, to be an independent venue for experts and policymakers to discuss
the most pressing security issues around the globe.
While the USSR absorbed neighboring countries as satellites, the U.S. and its
allies and partners embraced a theory that international relations could
achieve permanent peace so long as they emphasized representative democracy,
economic interdependence, and international organizations. The equality, shared
norms, and costs for wars that this system built, the theory went, along with
new mechanisms for negotiation, would prevent global military conflict like
those the world had suffered twice in the early twentieth century.
Since World War II, those values have reinforced civil rights and created
opportunities for women and people of color, created dramatically higher
standards of living around the globe, and prevented global wars. But the
collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 changed global calculations. Rather than
defending the tenets of democracy, American leaders focused on spreading
capitalism into the newly accessible states, arguing that democracy and
capitalism went hand in hand.
At home, the end of the Cold War meant that the extremist Republicans who hoped
to destroy business regulations and slash taxes, as well as halt infrastructure
projects and end civil rights protections, no longer had to work with Democrats
to stand against the USSR. They focused on getting rid of those they called the
American “left,” a term that for them included not just Democrats but also
Independents and traditional Republicans in the mold of President George H.W.
Bush, who believed the government had a role to play in regulating business,
providing a basic social safety net, promoting infrastructure, and protecting
civil rights."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
