“Among certain foreign policy mavens, the year is always 1938, and the location is always Munich. Thomas Friedman gives the latest example. This weekend, he awarded Trump the ‘Neville Chamberlain Prize’ for proposing the parameters of a negotiated settlement to the bloody and seemingly endless Russia-Ukraine war. Not only would the execution of Trump’s plan, he claims, lead to the modern equivalent of World War II and put all of Europe ‘under Putin’s thumb,’ it would mean that ‘Thanksgiving will no longer be an American holiday.’ It would ‘become a Russian holiday,’ a day of thanks for Trump’s delivery of a Russian victory in Putin’s misbegotten war. Losing all of Europe and having to refight WWII is bad enough, but losing Thanksgiving? The perfidy of Putin and Trump knows no bounds!” (11/24/25)
“An Australian senator who is campaigning for a national burqa ban was barred Tuesday from Parliament for the rest of the year for wearing the Muslim garment in the chamber. Pauline Hanson, the 71-year-old leader of the anti-Muslim, anti-immigration One Nation minor party, was accused of performing a disrespectful stunt on Monday when she walked into the Senate shrouded in the head-to-ankle garment to protest fellow senators’ refusal to consider her bill that would ban the burqa and other full-face coverings in public places. Senators suspended her for the rest of the day on Monday. In the absence of an apology, they passed a censure motion Tuesday that carried one of the harshest penalties against a senator in recent decades.” (11/25/25)
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by David Cardaronella
“On October 1, the federal government shut down—halting non-essential services after the failure of Republicans and Democrats to pass an appropriations bill. Even after becoming the longest government shutdown in American history, the end was nowhere in sight. It may seem that both parties would want to avoid shutdowns, especially ones lasting that long, to accomplish at least some elements of their agendas rather than waste weeks of a legislative session. However, this is not the case when certain incentives are at play, including the incentives to pressure, misrepresent, and engage in costly signaling of resolve.” (11/24/25)
“Lawmakers in the European Parliament voted on Tuesday to pursue legal action against the European Commission for spiking a highly disputed bill to regulate the licensing of patents. After a lawsuit was filed earlier this month to the Court of Justice of the European Union, lawmakers today voted with 334 MEPs in favor of pursuing the legal action. There were 294 votes against and 11 abstentions. … The case can now move ahead to the EU’s top court in Luxembourg, which will have to decide whether the Commission was within its rights to scrap the proposal or whether it overstepped its powers.” (11/25/25)
Source: Washington Post
by Sean Rad & Zach Schapira
“X’s recent bold decision, led by Head of Product Nikita Bier, to add country labels to accounts reflects an important shift: a recognition that geographic transparency is crucial context to help users understand whether a post is a firsthand account or distant commentary, whether it reflects genuine local sentiment or coordinated foreign messaging. After all, posts from the ‘Ivanka Trump News’ account with 1 million followers feel very different once you learn the account is posting from Nigeria. Lifting the veil on these accounts is a promising start. But the platforms have a long road ahead to construct true digital borders. Here are some ideas for platforms to consider if they want to join this effort.” (11/25/25)
“The 20th century encompassed the era of social democracy followed by an attempt to resurrect the left through the Third Way after that era’s ignominious end. In the 21st century, the left embarked on a new project they hoped would remedy 20th century weaknesses and inaugurate a new era of political and governance success. We are now a quarter of the way through the 21st century, which has witnessed both a genuine ‘crisis of capitalism’ (the Great Recession of 2007-09) and the systemic breakdown of the COVID era (2020-22). Enough time has gone by to render a judgement: despite ample opportunity to advance their cause, the left’s 21st century project has failed and failed badly.” (11/24/25)
“President Donald Trump has directed his departments of Treasury and State to consider designating chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations as he seeks to sanction the transnational Sunni Islamist group. The executive order, signed by Trump on Monday, gives Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Secretary of State Marco Rubio 30 days to submit a joint report evaluating whether any chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood should be designated as a foreign terrorist organization and as a specially designated global terrorist entity.” (11/25/25)
