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The Next Wave: How Religious Extremism is Reclaiming Power

Money from aristocrats, tech bros, and EU funding are all being channelled into an assault on rights across Europe – advanced by Americans and benefiting Russia. It is a dedicated campaign with long-term implications. Katherine Stewart reports.

Kevin Roberts
Kevin Roberts, president of The Heritage Foundation, speaks during a news conference in 2023. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images

On 26 May, Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation – one of America’s most influential conservative think tanks – gathered with leaders of the French far-right at the Interallied Union Circle, an exclusive club on Paris’ right bank.

The invitation card promised a conversation on “the future of conservatism in France and the West”. In an interview with Le Monde, Roberts explained that “we’re worried about the West, about France”.

The next day, the US State Department made the plan official.

Notes on Now – When the Ideas of Modern Democracy Were Born

England is not famous for being the birthplace of modern representative democracy. For the good reason that it isn’t.
Anthony Barnett

Reform Uncovered: Durham County Council Removes Pride and Ukraine Flags on Leader’s Whim

Critics called the move ‘deeply undemocratic’ and ‘Trumpian’ after the Reform UK-led council could provide no formal record or reasoning for the change. Josiah Mortimer reports
Josiah Mortimer