171 Comments
Sep 11, 2022Liked by Noah Smith

The key belief of illiberalism is that the world is abuse or be abused and that's never going to change. The key belief of liberalism is that humans are capable of inventing ways (democracy, human rights, the rule of law) to create a space where it doesn't have to be like that.

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Sep 11, 2022Liked by Noah Smith

There's another element of Liberalism & war that's frequently overlooked or underrated.

Bismarck famously said that 'People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war or before an election', and while courage and strength of will are obviously key to winning, so to is being able to separate and prioritise fact from fiction (particularly unwelcome facts over comforting fictions), in order to make the right decisions.

Anti-liberal societies are exceptionally bad at this, and prosecuting a war with false info and inflexible world-view is about a sure -fire way of losing it as you can get.

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"In other words, there is a clear difference between acting tough and actually being tough."

"Any man that must say 'I am the king' is no king at all"

-Tywin Lannister

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Sep 12, 2022Liked by Noah Smith

Thank you, Noah, for keeping this world situation in the forefront. As I have commented in the past, I was in Poland, Hungary, and Czechia in May. What I saw and heard there has made me feel strongly about this issue. I worry that people so geographically removed from the events will forget.

I just returned from Ireland which, though militarily neutral, has taken in about 50,000 Ukrainian refugees. And I saw a few Ukrainian flags.

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The most important message that I take away from the Ukrainian victories is that US defense contractors make some really awesome weaponry, and that John McCain's dismissal of Russia as a "gas station with nukes" was eerily accurate. There's a good reason why the keynote speaker at the US defense contractors' conference is Volodymyr Zelensky.

It also helps to have ones eyes wide open about the kind of polity Ukraine has.

Before the war, they were ranked as one of the most corrupt nations in the world. After Russia has been defeated (soon, one hopes!), and once America, the EU and others rush in with billions of dollars in reconstruction aid, we should fully expect that obscene amounts of money will get siphoned away by several corrupt oligarch/politicians.

Zelensky may wind up like Yeltsin, a bumbler who turned out to be a hero when the moment demanded it; and completely at sea, buffeted around by more savvy and corrupt politicians once peace has broken out and the place is awash with money. Ukraine may - ironically - wind up electing a Putin or Orban who is purportedly there to "clean" up the mess and put the oligarchs in their place, leaving us to occasionally wonder if the joke is on us.

Yes, Slava Ukraini and Putin Delenda Est.

But don't get carried away ...

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Love this post, thank you.

I think you’re missing some sort of “the latter” clause in this sentence:

“The former is all about outward fierceness and savagery, while the inner ability to endure hardship and pain and fear and still keep fighting effectively.”

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Sep 11, 2022·edited Sep 11, 2022

The idea that Ukraine is an exemplar of liberalism or that the United States has abandoned its neocon delusions are two unfunny jokes.

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>we should work equally hard to restore the U.S.’ moral commitment to liberalism both inside and outside its borders.

What self-imagined "realists" seem to miss:

If power is the ability to convince your friends and coerce your enemies (and sometimes the reverse), then moral superiority is real geopolitical power.

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Sep 12, 2022Liked by Noah Smith

Thank you for the great article. Keep in mind - it ain’t over until it’s over.

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Sep 12, 2022Liked by Noah Smith

I've said it before: anyone who thinks that "kids these days" are too pampered to handle adversity has never tried playing Dark Souls.

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Great post! But I am afraid that might is the only thing making right possible to survive here. Ukraine is succeeding because of its brave soldiers (might), and the backing of the most mighty military alliance, providing the mightiest most modern weaponry. If none of these happened, if the US and NATO did not back Ukraine, and if Kyiv was to rely on effeminate soldiers in need of talk therapy, then it would matter not how right Ukraine was to begin with.

Liberalism is resilient in spite of some limited decadence, and whether or not the system protects the dignity of all its citizens (including gay rights etc) does not matter much (at least directly). Liberalism is the best system out there - and it so because free markets, limited and accountable government checked by an independent judiciary and (at least relatively) free media, is still the best way of governance to ensure prosperity for citizens, state power and wealth, and ultimately enable the creation and sustenance of superior military might.

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An exceptional statement of the arc of history. Bravo.

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Beautiful job of summing up. Go Ukraine!

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Not disagreeing with any of this but personally I'm more worried about illiberalism here at home than abroad. Sure, they are related tangentially but lets not let fisa courts, raiding lawyers offices, unwarranted wire taps and ex-judicial murder by drone of aid workers go unnoticed. Get rid of the FISA courts and the patriot act and fire the murderous Gina Haskle and then we'll talk.

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Great piece, Noah. This is exactly why I subscribe. And on another note, I know you don’t care for his writings, but your post parallels the Culture series by Iain Banks.

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Sep 13, 2022Liked by Noah Smith

HiMARS wasn't invented by meatheads; and the strategies in Kherson and Izium weren't concocted by testosterone driven orcs. The Orcs have one strategy: Flatten civilian targets. The best military minds are what wins wars. And if you ever get a chance to talk to a colonel or general - do it. You'll find some of the most insightful people, who are true professionals at what they do.

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