Key Takeaways
- Confusing allies with adversaries isn’t sophistication. It rewards hostile regimes and jeopardizes Americans’ security.
- Defending the West requires leaders who recognize its enemies, not politicians who explain away their aggression.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping tour a photo exhibition by the TASS and Xinhua news agencies at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, May 20, 2026.
Sputnik/Alexander Kazakov/Pool via Reuters
They say ignorance is bliss. What they don’t yet say, but may soon have to concede, is that it’s also apparently a pathway to power.
Across the Western world, an outbreak of cultivated obliviousness has overtaken its political classes. Today, elementary inferences that we expect schoolchildren to deduce — little things like who our friends and enemies are in the world — reliably elude our enlightened leaders.
About the Author
Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.
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