Niall Ferguson on Cold War II and the Rise of Anti-History

Sir Niall Ferguson, Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and columnist at The Free Press, joins the show in front of a live audience to discuss the perilous moment we find ourselves in and how it all relates to history. What is the status of the Iran war? What is influencing President Donald Trump’s policymaking? How do we defeat a dangerous wave of “anti-history”? And are we on the brink of a world war, a cold war, or something in between?

03:35 - Historical analogies for today

09:51 - Short war illusion

15:14 - We’re in a Cold War II

18:12 - Putin’s essay from 2021

19:50 - Russia-Ukraine war

25:29 - The American mythos of WWII

26:58 - Anti-history

30:04 - The life work of Bill Buckley

31:37 - Return of antisemitism and socialism

32:52 - President Trump’s worldview

36:37 - The war in Iran

47:45 - The new state of warfighting

53:53 - President Trump’s treatment of Ukraine

57:17 - Risks of Taiwan conflict

01:03:57 - Limits to air power

01:06:58 - Reversal of historical revisionism

01:12:30 - Story about Aaron’s father

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Find more at The Free Press (thefp.com/s/school-of-war).

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