“Mugged by Reality”: The Neoconservative Turn
This chapter examines the neoconservative movement, liberal hawks who became increasingly disenchanted with the Democratic Party’s foreign policy, Great Society Program, and the cultural values of the…
The Kingdom of Man: Genesis and Failure of the Modern Project
The Kingdom of Man: Genesis and Failure of the Modern Project. Remi Brague. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2018. The final part of his…
Nomos, Nature, and Modernity in Brague’s The Law of God
By looking at the historical paths of Greece, Israel, Christianity, and Islam, Brague’s The Law of God compares each civilization’s conceptions of law and divinity. For the…
Idolizing the Idea: A Critical History of Modern Philosophy
Idolizing the Idea: A Critical History of Modern Philosophy. Wayne Cristaudo. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2020. In Idolizing the Idea, Cristaudo explores the value that philosophy…
Cosmopolitan Political Thought: Method, Practice, Discipline
Cosmopolitan Political Thought: Method, Practice, Discipline. Farah Godrej. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. Comparative theory provides an engagement with non-western texts that is dialogical and hermeneutic…
In Pursuit of Civility: Manners and Civilization in Early Modern England
In Pursuit of Civility: Manners and Civilization in Early Modern England. Keith Thomas. New Haven, CT: Yale Univeresity Press, 2018. Since the times of the ancient…
Bourgeois Dignity: Why Economics Can’t Explain the Modern World
Bourgeois Dignity: Why Economics Can’t Explain the Modern World. Deirdre N. McCloskey. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010. According to McCloskey, a change in the common…
Cana Academy Interview with Lee Trepanier
Cana Academy's interview with Lee Trepanier is available here.
American Awakening: Identity Politics and Other Afflictions of Our Time
American Awakening: Identity Politics and Other Afflictions of Our Time. Joshua Mitchell. New York: Encounter Books, 2020. While the United States has enjoyed material prosperity, its…
History: Forgotten and Remembered
History: Forgotten and Remembered. Andrew J. Zwerneman. Falls Church, VA: Cana Academy, 2020. History: Forgotten and Remembered is a small and delightful book about how to…
Calculated Values: Finance, Politics, and the Quantitative Age
Calculated Values: Finance, Politics, and the Quantitative Age. William Deringer. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2018. How is that we are beholden to numbers? We view…
American Academic Cultures: A History of Higher Education
American Academic Cultures: A History of Higher Education. Paul H. Mattingly. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017. With higher education in America being scrutinized once again,…
Reflections on the Capitol Riots
It is strange to read back what I had written four years ago and see how little has changed in our political climate except for the cast…
The Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Ecumene
The rise of Asia, especially China, has raised a unique challenge for western political scientists in trying to understand and predict whether civilizational conflict and war will…