Category: News
CTU President Stacy Davis Gates to be keynote speaker at Aurora event honoring legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
The city of Aurora will honor the life and legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. during a ceremony on Jan. 19 at East Aurora High School.
The 41st annual MLK Ceremony in Aurora, set to begin at 6 p.m. at the high school at 500 Tomcat Lane, will feature a keynote speech by Stacy Davis Gates, who is president of the Chicago Teachers Union, a former high school social studies teacher and a national advocate for educational equity, labor rights and racial justice, according to a news release from the city of Aurora.
The evening will also include youth and adult performances along with the presentation of two different awards, city officials said in the news release.
The city news release said that Davis Gates, as a prominent labor leader and advocate, embodies King’s vision for economic and racial justice. Her leadership highlights the intersection of public education and civil rights, city officials said.
“Davis Gates is a dynamic speaker who brings courage and clarity,” Aurora Deputy Chief of Staff Nicholas Richard-Thompson said in the news release. “Her fearless leadership and commitment to the ‘common good’ approach to organizing make her the ideal voice to help us reflect on King’s legacy of labor advocacy and our current struggle for structural justice.”
In addition to Davis Gates’ keynote speech and performances by local choruses and artists, the event will also feature the presentation of the Donna J. Williams MLK Service Awards and the MLK Youth Liberation Awards, officials said.
The city of Aurora has gathered to commemorate the birth and mission of Martin Luther King Jr. for over 40 years, according to the news release. City officials said that the event serves as a call to action for residents to promote justice, elevate human dignity and strengthen neighborhoods through service and advocacy.
More information about the event can be found on the city’s website at: www.aurora.il.us/Recreation-and-Amenities/Events/Special-Events/MLK-Day
DHS deploys 2K federal agents to Minneapolis area to carry out ‘largest immigration operation ever’
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has launched what officials describe as the largest immigration enforcement operation ever carried out, preparing to deploy as many as 2,000 federal agents and officers to the Minneapolis area for a sweeping crackdown tied in part to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents.
The deployment, which began over the weekend, represents one of the largest single-city mobilizations of Department of Homeland Security personnel in years, according to a person briefed on the operation. The surge dramatically expands the federal law enforcement footprint in Minnesota amid heightened political and community tensions.
The person was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the operation and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.
Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Todd Lyons said during an interview with Newsmax that the agency was carrying out its “largest immigration operation ever,” though he did not specify how many officers were involved.
Roughly three-quarters of the personnel are expected to come from ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, which carries out immigration arrests and deportations, the person said. The operation also includes agents from Homeland Security Investigations, ICE’s investigative arm, which typically focuses on fraud and cross-border criminal networks. HSI agents were going door-to-door in the Twin Cities area investigating allegations of fraud, human smuggling and unlawful employment practices, Lyons said.
The HSI agents are largely expected to concentrate on identifying suspected fraud, while deportation officers will conduct arrests of immigrants accused of violating immigration law, according to the person briefed on the operation. Specialized tactical units are also expected to be involved.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was also in the Minneapolis–St. Paul area and accompanied ICE officers during at least one arrest. In a video posted on the social media platform X, Noem is seen wearing a tactical vest and knit cap as agents arrest a man in St. Paul. In the video, she tells the man, whose hands are cuffed behind his back, “You will be held accountable for your crimes.”
The Department of Homeland Security said in a news release that the man arrested was from Ecuador and that he was wanted in Ecuador and Connecticut on charges including murder and sexual assault.
When asked how many officers and agents had been deployed to Minnesota, Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin declined to provide a figure, citing officer safety. She said DHS had surged law enforcement resources to the state and had already made more than 1,000 arrests of people it described as killers, rapists, child sexual offenders and gang members.
The operation also includes personnel from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, including Commander Gregory Bovino, whose role in previous federal operations in other cities has drawn scrutiny from local officials and civil rights advocates, the person familiar with the deployment said.
Federal authorities began increasing immigration arrests in the Minneapolis area late last year. Noem and FBI Director Kash Patel announced last week that federal agencies were intensifying operations in Minnesota, with an emphasis on fraud investigations.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly linked his administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota to fraud cases involving federal nutrition and pandemic aid programs, many of which have involved defendants with roots in Somalia.
The person with information about the current operation cautioned that its scope and duration could shift in the coming days as it develops.
Balsamo reported from New York.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/06/immigration-enforcement-minneapolis/
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban are officially divorced after 19 years of marriage
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban are divorced and legally single, ending the 19-year marriage of one of entertainment’s most prominent power couples.
A Nashville, Tennessee, judge on issued an order at a hearing Tuesday dissolving the marriage of the Oscar-winning actor and the Grammy-winning country singer.
Judge Stephanie J. Williams said in a court filing that the couple’s settlements on splitting assets and child custody are sufficient, and granted them the divorce.
Williams wrote that “there exist such irreconcilable difference between the parties that would render continuation of the marriage impractical and impossible.”
Both Kidman and Urban waived their right to appear at the hearing.
Messages to their representatives seeking comment were not immediately answered.
Kidman filed for divorce in September. The superstar split was a surprise to most of the public, but it had clearly been in the works for a while. All the legal issues involving assets and custody had been settled and signed the day of her filing.
Tennessee requires a 90-day waiting period for couples with minor children before a divorce can take effect.
Kidman and Urban, both 58, have two teenage daughters together. Their divorce filing said they had “marital difficulties and irreconcilable differences.”
The plan they signed states that Kidman would be the primary residential parent to the children. It suggested they would remain living in Nashville as they have all their lives. The filing states that neither parent would need child or spousal support, and lays out a roughly equal division of their joint assets.
Two of the biggest stars to come out of Australia in recent decades, Kidman and Urban met in Los Angeles in 2005 and were married in Sydney the following year. They were red carpet fixtures throughout their two-decade relationship, with Urban joining his wife at the Oscars and Kidman attending music events like the Academy of Country Music Awards. The couple had publicly but lovingly described some marital difficulties, yet there were still few outward signs the divorce was coming.
The marriage was the first for Urban and the second for Kidman, who was married to Tom Cruise from 1990 to 2001. Kidman also has two older children with Cruise.
Dalton reported from Los Angeles.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/06/nicole-kidman-keith-urban-divorce-2/
Artistic director of Shattered Globe Theatre is stepping down
Sandy Shinner, the producing artistic director of Chicago’s long-established Shattered Globe Theatre Company, announced Tuesday that she is stepping down from her post.
Shinner, 75, is a longtime fixture on the Chicago theater scene who spent more than 25 years as associate artistic director of the Victory Gardens Theater Company prior to taking the job at the ensemble-based Shattered Globe, now in its 35th season as an off-Loop Company. Shinner has run the company, currently in residence at Theater Wit, for some 13 years. She will remain a member of the theater’s ensemble.
The board of directors at Shattered Globe said Tuesday it will conduct a national search for Shinner’s replacement.
“While there never seems to be a perfect time for a transition,” Shinner said in a prepared statement, “it’s time for a new artistic leader to address our complicated times with a bold vision and chart the ensemble’s course for the next decade.”
Shattered Globe reported a deficit of $144,000 on its 2024 tax return. But the small, low-budget company long has been a favorite of critics and audiences, known for bold and challenging work. Its most recent hit was a new staging of Kenneth Lonergan’s “Lobby Hero,” which opened last winter. The company said it was its best-selling show in 35 years.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
cjones5@chicagotribune.com
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/06/shattered-globe-shinner/
Barnes & Noble to open four Chicago-area bookstores, part of a national expansion
Barnes & Noble will open four new bookstores in the Chicago area by summertime, including a flagship location downtown on State Street, part of a national move to revive its brick-and-mortar retail presence.
The bookseller will open a store this summer in the former Old Navy outlet at 150 N. State St. Another Barnes & Noble store will open in early 2026 in Hyde Park at 1524 E. 55th St. The company also plans to relocate its store within Skokie’s Westfield Old Orchard Mall to a new two-level space, and build out by late spring a new Barnes & Noble inside the former Borders Books in Oak Park.
The rise of Amazon and other online sellers decimated bookstore chains across the U.S., but the pandemic gave many readers a new appreciation for gathering places and the kind of community they can’t get online, said Janine Flanigan, Barnes & Noble’s vice president for store design.
“There’s been a tremendous surge of interest in reading, especially among teens and young adults, and coming out of the pandemic, Barnes & Noble was one of the few places where people could come and gather,” Flanigan said. “Book lovers really like to have interactions, and come into our stores to spend time and browse the shelves.”
Barnes & Noble opened 31 new stores in 2023, and accelerated the pace over the next few years, she said. Sixty-one stores were opened in 2024, 58 in 2025, and 60 will open this year, including Chicagoland’s four new outlets. There are more than 600 Barnes & Noble bookstores in the U.S.
Flanigan said the company got back to its core business since James Daunt took over as CEO in 2019, putting less focus on games, puzzles and other miscellaneous items.
“We’re a bookseller first and foremost, and games are now a complement to the bookstore,” she said.
And instead of dictating from the central office which books to recommend, Barnes & Noble now lets local booksellers suggest books to their customers, giving the stores a more personal touch, Flanigan said.
“The stores are now making decisions about what’s right for their communities, and we’ve seen a tremendous boost in sales over the past two years,” Flanigan said.
That’s a good way to build customer loyalty, said Chris Irwin, a retail expert and senior vice president at Colliers, a commercial real estate firm.
“If you’re on the North Side you may see a book about the Cubs, and if you’re on the South Side you may see a book about the White Sox,” Irwin said. “It’s smart. Sometimes a corporate, cookie-cutter approach doesn’t work.”
Barnes & Noble has also become a lot more flexible about the size of its retail outlets. Instead of building standard 25,000-square-foot stores, the company adapts each to their community, Flanigan said. The downtown Chicago location in the former Old Navy, currently in the early stages of design, will span 30,000 square feet. The Hyde Park location will be a little more than 18,000 square feet. The Oak Park store will have about 20,000 square feet and Old Orchard about 22,000 square feet. The Hyde Park and Oak Park stores will also include a cafe.
A new Barnes & Noble can be tough on small neighborhood booksellers. Volumes Bookcafe, an independent bookstore in Wicker Park, said it’s closing in January after losing a significant chunk of business to Barnes & Noble, which opened in October 2024 in Wicker Park’s century-old Noel State Bank building.
Irwin said Barnes & Noble is the only large bookstore chain launching so many brick-and-mortar stores.
“There doesn’t seem to be anyone else in that space,” he said. “They’ve cornered the market.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/06/barnes-noble-bookstores-chicago/
Two Caribbean Nations Agree To Accept Asylum Seekers From US
Two Caribbean Nations Agree To Accept Asylum Seekers From US
Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
The Caribbean nations of Dominica and Antigua and Barbuda announced on Jan. 5 that they agreed to take in third-country nationals who entered the United States illegally.
An undated photograph of Rendezvous Bay, Antigua. Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority
Dominican Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said the island nation has entered into an “internal agreement” with the United States that would allow illegal immigrants to be deported to Dominica in cases where the individuals cannot be returned to their home countries due to safety concerns.
Dominica has been in talks with the United States following U.S. President Donald Trump’s Dec. 16, 2025, proclamation that imposed “partial restrictions and entry limitations” on its citizens.
“Dominica has been engaged in ongoing dialogue with the United States on matters of mutual interest, and an agreement has been reached on one of the primary areas of collaboration,” Skerrit said during a news conference.
Skerrit stated that during talks, the U.S. State Department acknowledged that no “violent individuals” or illegal immigrants who pose national security threats should be sent to Dominica.
The Dominican leader did not provide details on when the discussion with the State Department occurred and when transfers could occur.
Skerrit said the move would help to protect Dominican citizens’ access to “lawful travel, education, employment, and family connections” in the United States while also strengthening his nation’s cooperation with the U.S. government.
“I believe this will further deepen our longstanding relationship and signal clearly that Dominica remains a willing and reliable partner of the United States in our region,” he said.
Antigua and Barbuda officials said the country has signed a nonbinding memorandum of understanding proposed by the United States on the possible acceptance of “a very limited number” of third-country nationals, including refugees.
The United States has sought cooperation in transferring illegal immigrants who cannot be returned to their home countries due to safety reasons, according to Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister’s Office.
The government said under the memorandum of understanding that the island nation would not take in anyone with a criminal record and would only accept third-country nationals who are “already present in the United States” and have passed the necessary intelligence vetting and national security assessments.
The Caribbean nation, also listed in Trump’s Dec. 16, 2025, proclamation, said it has been in talks with U.S. officials to restore normal visa issuance and renewals for its citizens.
The U.S. State Department has not released a statement regarding the agreements and did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.
The White House said in a fact sheet that Trump imposed visa restrictions on nationals from Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, and several other countries, citing “severe deficiencies in screening, vetting, and information-sharing” needed to protect national security and public safety.
Tyler Durden
Tue, 01/06/2026 – 17:00
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/two-caribbean-nations-agree-accept-asylum-seekers-us
Chris Wright Takes Venezuela Pitch To Oil Executives In Miami
Chris Wright Takes Venezuela Pitch To Oil Executives In Miami
The Trump administration is accelerating efforts to draw US oil companies into Venezuela, with Energy Secretary Chris Wright expected to hold discussions with industry leaders this week as Washington maps out plans to revive the country’s collapsed energy sector, according to Bloomberg.
Wright will be in Miami for the Goldman Sachs Energy, Clean Tech & Utilities Conference, a major industry gathering that will bring together executives from Chevron, ConocoPhillips and other producers. Chevron remains the only global oil supermajor maintaining operations inside Venezuela .
President Donald Trump is betting that American energy firms will ultimately anchor Venezuela’s recovery, but companies are signaling they won’t rush in without firm political and legal assurances. Years of corruption and neglect have severely damaged production, leaving infrastructure in need of massive long-term reinvestment.
Bloomberg writes that despite Venezuela holding the world’s largest proven crude reserves, experts estimate restoring its oil system would require approximately $10 billion in investment every year for the next decade.
Industry participants say interest in the country is real, but the recent removal of President Nicolás Maduro alone is not enough to unlock capital. Companies want clarity on whether a durable government will emerge, whether contracts and the rule of law will be respected, and whether US political support for their presence in Venezuela will extend beyond Trump’s term in office.
The White House has already engaged multiple energy companies in early-stage talks, according to a US official. Administration officials say the private sector is prepared to move when conditions stabilize.
“All of our oil companies are ready and willing to make big investments in Venezuela that will rebuild their oil infrastructure,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said.
Tyler Durden
Tue, 01/06/2026 – 16:40
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/chris-wright-takes-venezuela-pitch-oil-executives-miami
Mamie Till-Mobley, mother of Emmett Till, remembered as ‘extraordinary human being’ on the anniversary of her death
A small group including friends and family of civil rights activist Mamie Till-Mobley, the mother of Emmett Till, gathered Tuesday to lay flowers on her grave in Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip on the anniversary of her death.
Till-Mobley died in 2003, at age 81, having spent much of her life as an advocate for racial justice following the gruesome lynching of her 14-year-old son in 1955.
“She gave birth to the sacrificial lamb,” said Ollie Gordon, a member of the Till family and cousin of Emmett Till. “She endured much pain as she moved forward with much integrity to keep the story alive. She opened the coffin, she let the world see.”
Till-Mobley’s choice of an open-casket funeral for her son, despite how badly his body had been mutilated, brought racism to the forefront of the public discourse and acted as a spark for the Civil Rights Movement.
“She said his mutilated body represented to show the world what racism was like,” Gordon said. “Grotesque, ugly thing of racism.”
Gordon was 7 when Emmett Till was killed. She’s now 77, she said, and still committed to keeping both his and Till-Mobley’s memories alive through events like Tuesday’s remembrance.
“Seventy years later, and the story of Emmett still resonates,” Gordon said. “Mrs. Mobley always said, ‘I want this story to stay alive.’ To whomever. She didn’t just say to the family, or whatever. To whomever would pick up the torch.”
One of the attendees Tuesday, Mike Small, was a friend of Till-Mobley’s and a pallbearer at her funeral. He said he met her late in her life, in 2000. Small, a social studies teacher at the time, was teaching his class about Emmett Till’s death when a student asked if Till-Mobley was still alive, prompting him to seek her out.
“There’s five people I’ve met in my life where I felt I was in the presence of an extraordinary human being,” Small said. “Mamie’s one of them.”
During Till-Mobley’s funeral, Small said, there was a jam when the coffin would not roll smoothly onto the rollers to be lowered into the grave.
“My interpretation is, that was Mamie sending us a message,” Small said. “She does not want her story to go away.”
Ollie Gordon, center, speaks about her cousin, Mamie Till-Mobley, the mother of Emmett Till, on the anniversary of Mobley’s death, Jan. 6, 2026, at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip. Tammy Gibson, left, and Ed Boone, right, of the Friends of Burr Oak Cemetery, helped organize the remembrance. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Chictowa Weatherspoon, a crisis counselor at Burr Oak Cemetery, said that Till-Mobley’s legacy was one of enduring courage.
“Her tragedy made a difference in us. Her tragedy gave us courage, gave us strength to go forward,” Weatherspoon said. “We honor her and her courage, in showing us that we can move beyond our tragedies.”
After attendees laid fresh flowers down on Till-Mobley’s grave, Weatherspoon concluded the gathering with a prayer.
“We thank God for Mamie Till and her courage,” Weatherspoon said. “God, we thank you most of all for her saying, ‘Look at this.’”
Both Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till are buried in Burr Oak Cemetery. Burr Oak Cemetery was founded in 1927 as one of the few cemeteries to serve Chicago’s Black population.
“It’s just a lot of history here,” said Tammy Gibson, co-chair of the Friends of Burr Oak Cemetery, who organized the remembrance. “I have family members that are buried here, too.”
Flowers are left at the gravesite of Mamie Till-Mobley, mother of Emmett Till, on the anniversary of her death on Jan. 6, 2026, at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
The cemetery was at the center of a major scandal in when it was uncovered in 2009 that cemetery workers had been illegally digging up and moving bodies to resell the plots.
Now, Gibson said, efforts are underway to have the cemetery registered as a national historic site. Besides the Tills, other prominent African Americans buried in the cemetery include singer Dinah Washington, the Rev. Clay Evans and business owner Annie Turnbo Malone.
“We’re going to try to see if we can get better markers, and just clean up and just make sure that this place is beautiful like it was when it was founded,” Gibson said.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/06/mamie-till-mobley-death-anniversary/
Indiana Black Legislative Caucus unveils 2026 session agenda
The Indiana Black Legislative Caucus unveiled its 2026 agenda, which state Rep. Earl Harris, D-East Chicago, said is going to support working Hoosiers.
“For years, we’ve heard our colleagues in the Republican supermajority tout the strength of Indiana’s economy,” Harris, who’s also the IBLC chair, said in a Tuesday news release. “Unfortunately, Hoosiers aren’t seeing that strength when they look at their bank accounts. The supposed strength of our economy was built on the backs of our most vulnerable: our working class, our sick and disabled and our working parents. An economy that prioritizes the few over the many is not strong; it’s predatory. We want a strong state for business and innovation, but we can have that without leaving our working Hoosiers behind.”
The Indiana Senate and House of Representatives reconvened for the 2026 session on Monday. Senate and House Democrats announced their priorities for the session, and IBLC announced theirs on Tuesday.
IBLC’s priorities for the 2026 session include lowering the cost of living, easing the burden of medical debt, addressing rising utility fees and lowering the barriers to homeownership. Caucus members have filed 14 bills to help achieve those goals.
“Too many Hoosiers are living paycheck to paycheck,” Harris said. “This session, we’re committed to helping Hoosiers thrive, not simply eke by every month. We’re calling on Gov. (Mike) Braun and the Republican supermajority to work with us to help all Hoosiers create a quality of life and economic opportunity for themselves.”
Multiple Northwest Indiana senators and representatives are part of the IBLC and have authored legislation that fits the caucus’s agenda. Harris introduced House Bill 1135, which would establish a housing down payment assistance fund for single-family residences statewide, according to the Indiana General Assembly website.
State Rep. Ragen Hatcher, D-Gary, introduced House Bill 1324, which would impact consumer pricing information and says it is deceptive for an object to not include all fees and charges. Objects should still include taxes and fees imposed on purchases by the government and expected shipping and handling charges, according to the bill.
State Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary, created House Bill 1081, which, if passed, would create the Hoosier scam prevention board for Indiana residents at risk of fraud.
State Sen. Mark Spencer, D-Gary, authored Senate Bill 166, which would change the eligibility for veteran benefits, which would require discharge under honorable conditions for eligibility. The legislation also excludes references to determining eligibility for grants from the military family relief fund.
State Sen. Lonnie Randolph, D-East Chicago, authored Senate Bill 20, which would create a voluntary family leave insurance program through the Department of Insurance, according to the bill. The program would have to be created no later than Jan. 1, 2027, and would have to submit a report to the legislative council no later than Nov. 1, 2026.
Senate and House Democrats detailed similar goals on Monday following the restart of the 2026 session. Senate Democrats plan to focus on the cost of child care, housing, health care and utilities, and House Democrats’ agenda includes work to cut utility bills, lower health care costs, reduce child care costs, make homeownership available and support local law enforcement.
“What unites Hoosiers across geography, race, religion, class, politics and culture?” House Democratic Leader Phil GiaQuinta, D-Fort Wayne, said on the House floor Monday. “When it comes to policy, the answer is working people. Across Indiana, families are doing everything right — working hard, playing by the rules, and they’re still struggling to get ahead.”
Indiana House and Senate Republicans plan to announce their specific goals later this week. On the House floor Monday, state Rep. Matt Lehman, R-Byrne, said Republicans want to improve the state’s economy, reduce taxes for Hoosiers, address housing affordability, lower health care costs and improve education.
“I think when hardworking Hoosiers go to work every day, one thing they’re going to want to know is that when they’re getting their paycheck, they’re going to keep as much as they can,” Lehman said. “I think we have a bright future, and we’ve all worked hard to make sure that our communities grow and that our economy is growing.”
The 2026 session reconvened after a mid-census redistricting push in early December. Multiple Democrats said Monday that they’re happy redistricting is behind them, and they’re hopeful that their work will be completed during the shorter session.
“We seemed to move heaven and earth to put a redistricting bill on the board,” GiaQuinta previously said. “These things are more important than that, so we should be doing everything we can to get these bills moving on the floor and some relief for taxpayers.”
mwilkins@chicagotribune.com
Neither A Hyperpower Nor A Fortress
Neither A Hyperpower Nor A Fortress
Authored by R. Jordan Prescott via RealClearDefense,
In January 2017, Donald Trump stated America First would be the foundation of his administration’s agenda.
America First defies easy explanation, primarily because its invocation is a declaration of opposition, a rebuttal to proponents of globalization or overseas intervention.
The first Trump National Security Strategy (NSS), issued in 2017, framed America First as a realist construct for responding to the growing political, economic, and military competition presented by China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.
The new 2025 NSS refines this construct by declaring the administration’s commitment to the “continued survival and safety of the United States as an independent, sovereign republic.”
Whereas administrations have been issuing such strategy documents since Congress established the mandate in 1986, the latest Trump Administration NSS is unique in its arrival eight years after its first term version in 2017. Given the rarity of presidents succeeding their successor, the likelihood another administration will have such an opportunity is low.
The question of what changed is easily answered by reviewing the history of the intervening Biden Administration’s crises and failures. Nevertheless, China, Ukraine, and Israel were flashpoints in preceding administrations. Accordingly, what catalyzed the revision of America First from the focus on great power competition to the emphasis on sovereignty?
As the unipolar moment faded, the neoliberal and neoconservative duopoly comprising the foreign policy elite announced the advent of a multipolar system demarcated by antagonism between capitalist democracies—the United States and the European Union—and mercantilist autocracies—Russia and the People’s Republic of China.
The perspective was persuasive because it was consistent with the history of the West in conflict with hostile ideologies and regimes—World War II against fascism, the Cold War against communism, and the global war on terrorism.
The elite proceeded by coordinating with European allies to expand regional institutions and isolate Russia while pivoting to East Asia to counter the PRC.
Nevertheless, the fact of a highly integrated global economy hindered these efforts. The Russian economy may have been one-dimensional but global demand for its oil and natural gas ensured its viability even when sanctioned. Finally, the PRC was the world economy’s dominant manufacturing power and integral to global supply chains.
Trump pierced this framework during his first term by demanding European allies increase their contributions to NATO, pursuing rapprochement with Russia, and identifying the PRC as the country’s main adversary. Notably, however, Trump sought not to contain the PRC but to decouple it from the American economy. In the aftermath of the “forever wars” he denounced on the campaign trail and the socioeconomic “carnage” he lamented in his inaugural address, the great power competition was to be an economic contest, not a military showdown.
By the end of his first term, Trump succeeded in reshaping the country’s understanding of the challenge posed by the PRC. However, European allies generally resisted Trump’s demands, domestic opposition hindered his attempt at détente with Russia, and the onset of the pandemic foreclosed any reconfiguration of the global economy.
The subsequent Biden Administration retained the adversarial posture vis-à-vis China but reinstituted its military component. Furthermore, the Biden Administration reverted to supporting Europe unconditionally and isolating Russia.
The subsequent crisis in Europe, however, revealed the defect in the false dichotomy of a world divided between capitalist democracies and mercantilist autocracies.
The elite’s worldview overlooked another attribute differentiating the four poles—the readiness to interfere and intervene in other countries’ affairs.
Europe possesses minimal capacity and is reliant on American military power; the PRC possesses an extensive military but espouses non-interference.
In stark contrast, the US and Russia have repeatedly intervened politically, economically, and militarily in other countries. The former possesses the world’s most powerful military and intervenes globally given its myriad commitments abroad; the latter possesses Europe’s most powerful military and intervenes locally given security concerns in its near abroad.
Before Trump, Russia had long warned expanding the alliance to include Ukraine would be a red line that would prompt a military response. Under Trump, the decades-long eastward expansion of NATO paused. After Trump, NATO again signaled its readiness to admit Ukraine.
In February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine to prevent its accession to NATO. Even though the invasion revealed significant shortcomings in Russia’s military and Ukraine was not an ally, the Biden Administration and NATO allies mobilized as if it were.
Thus, the two states most prone to intervention faced off in Europe—America by virtue of its membership in an obsolete alliance and Russia over a nation it considered integral to its security. In the space of two years, the elite’s flawed worldview led to the largest military conflict in Europe since World War II and a potential confrontation between the United States and Russia.
Ending the conflict and preventing a far more catastrophic one in East Asia, would require a transformation of foreign policy premised on sovereignty and autonomy, not interdependence and obligations.
Upon Trump’s return to office, an America First predicated on sovereignty became manifest.
Trump immediately reiterated demands that the European allies not only increase their NATO contributions but enhance their military capabilities as well. Similarly, the administration actively re-engaged Russia on how to end the war in Ukraine. Lastly, Trump augmented his bid to decouple from China, and global supply chains by extension, by imposing tariffs extensively.
The new NSS ratifies this continuity and outlines the application of the sovereignty prism around the world. Discarding worldviews predicated on regime types and economic systems and civilizational clashes, America First exorcises the impetus to intervention. Americans need no longer worry their government will send their blood or treasure overseas for some think tank fever dream.
If the NSS is kinder to America’s enemies more than its friends, it is because sovereignty as a criterion reveals how relative it is in the modern world.
Post-Westphalian Europe has been brought low by its dependence on America. The purported threat from Russia has not stirred Europeans from their debellicized state. Furthermore, the great nations of Europe are no longer bearing children nor willing to work longer. Indeed, underappreciated is how much both the US and Russia desire the revitalization of Europe.
Pre-Westphalian territories dotting the continents are beset by anarchy, tribalism, violence, criminality, militancy, jihadism, and nihilism – and their inhabitants are relentlessly breaching the borders of other sovereign states.
Westphalian peers like the PRC, Russia, the Gulf monarchies, and rebounding Latin American countries all practice “flexible realism,” seeking good relations and peaceful commercial relations without imposing change that differs widely from their traditions and histories. And now, with a strategy focused solely on core vital national interests, America will no longer undertake regime change.
In 2017, the terms security and sovereignty appear in the strategy 117 and 13 times, respectively; in 2025, the count is 34 and 21. The 2025 National Security Strategy is neither a suicide note nor a blueprint for autarky. The elite’s version of security severely compromised America’s sovereignty. The elite will lament the passing of a hyperpower and allege the erection of a fortress, but the American people will find peace and prosperity in reasserted sovereignty.
As one commentator concluded, the elite worldview secures an order, America First secures a people.
At the inception of American sovereignty, the Founding Fathers warned against entangling alliances and a military evolving into another branch of government; in the modern day, America First will ensure the Republic is a safe and durable platform from which Americans can scan the horizon and confidently tackle the challenges of a new century.
R. Jordan Prescott is a private contractor working in defense and national security since 2002. He has been published in The American Conservative, The National Interest, Small Wars Journal, Modern War Institute, 19fortyfive, Responsible Statecraft, and RealClearDefense.
Tyler Durden
Tue, 01/06/2026 – 16:20
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/neither-hyperpower-nor-fortress
