WHAT ROUGH BEAST? The Undeclared Civil War In The West Is Coming Out

From Wretchard:

The undeclared cold civil war in the West is everywhere coming out of the closet. Both the Woke and Populist coalitions in every country have declared political war on each other at the level of ideology, generation of voter base and economic policy.

The moment of open conflict can be dated from Charlie Kirk's assassination and the MAGA coalition crossing 'Red Lines' on border policy domestically and Palestinian recognition internationally. There were other similar lines of departure in the UK, France and Germany.

The eerie thing about it is not that the kinetic level of confrontation has increased; even the Kirk assassination followed a string of attempts on other figures. It's that no one pretends not to see the conflict any more.  

It is still a cold conflict in the West -- for now.

But the conflict is now an open one and to some extent that will redefine politics in the West. It has already broken the old Tory/Labour duopoly in the UK. In the US the Bill Kristols and John Kennedys of the the GOP and Dem parties are gone with the wind.

But this was to be expected. The tremendous changes in technology, demographics etc could not long have been constrained by the End of History straitjacket or the World Order of Davos. Rather something new is breaking out of its shell outside the categories of the 20th century.

The emotional question for many is whether to regard the remaking of the world with fear or hope -- or both.

"And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,

Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?"

The truth is that we do not know. All real information is surprise.