Here at The American Conservative, we realize that the world is very large and very strange, and that there are many things worth writing about in newsmagazines. That is to say, we try to avoid repeating ourselves too much.
But our readers may pardon us for publishing back-to-back issues that feature stories about the Iran War on the cover. Despite President Donald Trump’s oft-repeated promises that the war is just an “excursion,” peace has failed to heave into view three months on. Jennifer Kavanagh addresses the damage already done to American military policy. It makes grim reading, and emphasizes the need to end the war as soon as possible. Harrison Berger writes about one of the thorniest obstacles to such a conclusion: the war’s Lebanese front, which has proven a consistent sticking point in the on-again, off-again negotiations between Washington and Tehran. Andrew Day examines the political casualties of the war, and, specifically, the future of the notional mascot of the peace wing of the Republican coalition: Vice President J.D. Vance.
But there is much else in this big old world, good and bad. Theodore Dalrymple reminisces on his time in a recrudescent arena of turmoil, Mali. Nic Rowan reviews a new and apparently rather bad book about the elderly. Indian historical controversies, banned books, urban planning, the Cold War, stories about animals—let it not be said that TAC doesn’t cast the net wide.
In Washington, the weather is fine—unusually fine—and, despite the travails of the country and the world, the prevailing mood at TAC’s offices is good. Putting together these issues is a daunting task, but a happy one; your readership and support make it possible. While we are always deeply grateful for financial contributions, we are at heart journalists, not fundraisers. We want our magazine to be read. It is our audience that animates our work, and, in the dreary moments, the idea that you continue to let us entertain and inform you lightens the load. Happy summer, America.
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