Maga’s Message to the Ivy League

Harvard University’s refusal to agree to the Trump administration’s demands is an inflection point in MAGA’s battle against the Ivy League. Higher education is Ground Zero in America’s culture war. Trump can’t win if he can’t subdue the oldest US university. If Harvard capitulates, it’s the end of the Ivy League. However, there is little exceptionable in the administration’s letter to Harvard President Alan Garber. Asking a university to use merit as the only criterion for recruitment and admission, protecting whistleblowers, rooting out anti-Semitism, and ending deplatforming—that is, asking faculty to focus on scholarship and teaching and students on research and learning instead of activism—is not an assault on democracy in itself. But that’s where things start going wrong. Trump may have cancelled $2.2 billion in Harvard’s federal grants and threatened to end its tax-exempt status, yet it’s the fear created by agents swooping in and taking students away in handcuffs, or cancelling hundreds of visas, that leaves no doubt about the administration choosing to play dirty and loving it. MAGA hates elite institutions, for so long the most anti-American and undemocratic spaces on US soil. Politically, it’s a win-win for Trump whether Harvard gives in like Columbia or goes to court.

Europe Prepares for War

Forget World War II. Even the Cold War is a distant memory. But European governments are serious while citizens are not as incredulous as they were before Vladimir Putin launched the continent’s first war of aggression after 1945. Subway stations, underground garages and cellars are again being transformed into bunkers. Finland has been the longest at it, having readied itself for the inevitable war, first with the Soviet Union and now with Russia, mandatorily building bomb shelters under apartment and office buildings since the 1950s. A while ago, Germany instructed its citizens about what to do in case of war. Now, Sweden has come out with a detailed survival guide. Late last year, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte had read out the writing on the wall: “It is time to shift to a wartime mindset.” Last month, the EU urged its citizens to stock up on 72 hours of water, food and essentials. The problem is the wide gap in threat perception from the Baltic to the Atlantic. People in Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, as well as Finns and Poles, naturally pay more attention and are less likely to be taken by surprise should trouble come out of the east while the US looks the other way.

Gunners’ Glory

Mikel Arteta had been the biggest underachiever among the world’s star football coaches till Arsenal beat Real Madrid 5:1 in aggregate to set up a Champions League semi-final clash with Paris-Saint Germain (PSG). Spaniard Arteta has made history because it isn’t easy to beat Los Blancos at the Bernabeu. The Gunners haven’t won the Premier League under him yet, but with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City finally running out of steam, after winning six of the last seven and a Champions League, Arsenal will need to knock only Liverpool off its perch. Maybe next year.

Donald TrumpgeopoliticsGlobetrotterIvy LeagueMAGAMark RutteVladimir Putin