Colleague, News, and Opinion Links for the Week of October 4, 2026
Newsletter #496 — October 8, 2026
by Guy Burgess and Heidi Burgess
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First, a note about our last newsletter, John Lande’s AI News and Analysis Tool. We got notes from several readers challenging John’s list of “high-quality sources,” pointing out consistent left-wing bias in a number of them. John does point out that no source should be treated as infallible (very true) and that readers can replace sources they don’t trust with their own list. One way to do that, if you want to be sure of balance, is to check out Ad Fontes Media Bias Chart and/or AllSides’ Media Bias Chart, and and then fill the list of sources to check from the center column of one or both of those charts and/or balance sources from the center-left with other sources from the center-right.
Highlighted Links
A few suggestions about links that we think are especially interesting.
- Inflammatory Media
The Triumph of Tech-Fueled Propaganda — From Foreign Affairs, a report on what they call "full spectrum propaganda," the effort to use the latest information technologies to destabilize Western democracies (and drive the hyperpolarization spiral). - Runaway Escalation
Strikes, Barricades and Fiscal Turmoil: An Autumn of Discontent Grips France — A report on the large scale civil unrest now unfolding in France -- unrest that may be tied to a government and a society that made more promises than they can keep. - Social / Economic Complexity
When America’s pot of debt will overflow — More evidence that we are coming to the end of an era -- an era in which we resolved conflicts over competing priorities by borrowing against the future. - US Politics
The Age After Trump is coming. Better buckle up. — An important reminder that, following the midterm elections, the Trump Presidency will enter its "lame duck" phase and U.S. Society will have to start seriously thinking about what comes next. - Israel, Hamas, Iran, and Related Wars
Iran Exposed How Vulnerable Our Bases Are — The United States' ability to "project power" around the world rests on the security of its far flung network of military bases -- security that is rapidly collapsing. - Interstate War
Weapons of mass decentralization - Works in Progress Magazine — Iron weaponry brought down the empires of the Bronze Age. Could technologies like drones do the same today? - Class Inequity
Trump Revealed Something Essential About Elites — An interview with the author of a thought provoking new book on the relationship between much hated elites and democracy. - Israel, Hamas, Iran, and Related Wars
Don’t Ask How This War Ends — A perceptive reminder that asking questions about how the war with Iran (or any other war) ends can hide the fact that wars are just one episode in an underlying long running conflict. - Israel, Hamas, Iran, and Related Wars
I Thought October 7 Was Horrific. Then I Found the 3-Hour Plan to Destroy Israel. — A look at the broader objective of the October 7 attack -- the total annihilation of Israel. Another example of the way in which war plans tend to go awry, often in ironic and catastrophic ways. - Israel, Hamas, Iran, and Related Wars
Who Verified Gaza? — A great overview of the sources of bias and disinformation that are embedded in the reports coming out of Gaza that so many rely upon. - US Politics
The second Trump presidency is a world-historic failure — From someone who grudgingly admitted that Trump's first term really wasn't that bad, a sharp critique of the many ways in which his second term is a true disaster. - Israel, Hamas, Iran, and Related Wars
Sharia Ruling Would Put Islamic Clerics in Charge of U.S. Government — An in-depth analysis of the way in which Islam thinks about the relationship between religion and government and what Islamic clerics are saying about how Muslims should involve themselves in U.S. politics. - US Politics
What Hegseth Is Hiding — A thoughtful, well-written, and persuasive critique of the ways in which the Trump administration is politicizing the armed forces. - Interstate War
A History Professor in 2076 Reflects on America's Collapse and the Third Global War — An instructive effort to look back on the history that we are in the process of creating. And, if we don't like the ending, a chance for us to rewrite the story. - Developing a Unifying Vision
A Suggestion for Young Radicals — For young people who are looking for a way in which they can make their society better, an argument that moderation, rather than radicalism, offers the most promising path. - Israel, Hamas, Iran, and Related Wars
If you come for the Jews, you’ll have to come through me — The Greens are the 2026 Nazi Party, infiltrated by Islamist extremists. - Israel, Hamas, Iran, and Related Wars
Revenge Is a Central Pillar of Iranian Foreign Policy — An example of a situation in which a bargaining strategy focused on maximizing participant benefits and minimizing costs breaks down.
Colleague Activities
Highlighting things that our conflict and peacebuilding colleagues are doing that contribute to efforts to address the hyper-polarization problem.
- Saving Democracy
Gallup and The Rippel Foundation Report Finds U.S. Well-Being Rates Near Historic Lows, But Local Communities Are Charting A Path Forward — Thriving fell to 48.1% and hope hit its lowest level since Gallup began tracking it in 2008, but communities using well-being data to guide local action are showing what it takes to change the trajectory. - Bridge Building
Can Bridgers Act Together under Pressure? — Insights and opportunities from the Threats to Pluralism project. - Constructive Communication
Thinking Narratively — This Guide examines how the stories people use to make sense of the world shape what becomes visible, legitimate, and possible in democratic life. - Saving Democracy
Nobel Peace Conference: A Collective Effort for Democracy — Can a democracy on the brink be saved through international cooperation and activism? This year’s major conference at the Nobel Peace Center leaves room for hope. - Saving Democracy
One of these things is not like the others — Rachel Kleinfeld introduces a playbook for fighting back in eroding democracies. All over the world, she says, people are doing two things wrong. - Developing a Unifying Vision
What if Christianity and Democracy in America Need Each Other? — A conversation with Michael Wear about faith, politics, and public life. - Trust / Trust Earning
Faith Communities Can Help Restore Trust in America’s Elections — Faith communities strengthen trust, reduce division, and help Americans engage elections with confidence. - Saving Democracy
What is Democratic Resilience? — This paper tries to transform the simple term “democratic resilience” into a more complex analytical concept. - Bridge Building
Better Together America: Lessons Learned From the Field - Summer 2026 — This report synthesizes insights gathered from Civic Hub Builders through interviews, learning cohorts, and structured feedback sessions since the network's 2024 founding. - Developing a Unifying Vision
Why Americans Mix and Match on Policy — The research behind Searchlight Institute’s recent study on how to build a supermajority of the American electorate. - Artificial Intelligence
The Disagreement Lab — AI has been blamed for driving us further apart and celebrated for helping us find common ground. But what about the space in between — where we still disagree? - Corruption
The Anti-Corruption Tracker: Mapping the Erosion of Oversight and Accountability — This tracker documents the erosion and dismantling of oversight and accountability systems within the U.S. Executive Branch, looking at things such as oversight, enforcement, transparency, workforce, and independent agencies. - Disinformation
Countering Disinformation: Strategies for 2026 and Beyond — A practitioner’s guide on how to conduct large-scale disinformation countermeasures. It offers actionable guidelines for crafting inoculation messages and outlines proven methods to deploy ongoing "booster shots" over time. - Constructive Communication
Countering through Narrative Engagement — Sometimes our collective goal is to dislodge harmful or unhelpful narratives. The question is how we do this strategically and in service of our long-term goals.
News and Opinion
From around the web, more insight into the nature of our conflict problems, limits of business-as-usual thinking, and things people are doing to try to make things better. (Formerly, Beyond Intractability in Context.)
- Peacebuilding
Michael Lewis on the Lone Security Guard Who Resisted DOGE — An interesting human interest profile of the man who tried to save the United States Institute of Peace. - US Politics
Six-Chart Sunday – The 12Oversight Congress — A great set of charts that provide a quick overview of the kinds of investigations that Democrats might mount should they gain control of Congress this November. - Race / Anti-Racism
The Fraud of White Guilt — From the Wall Street Journal, a review of the new film "White Guilt," a thoughtful and doubtless controversial critique of anti-racism efforts that argues that they have made things worse, rather than better. - Communication Complexity
MAGA Podcasters Are Tuning Out Trump. We Tracked What They Are Talking About Now. — The report on an intriguing and impressive project that actually tries to make sense of what is being actually said in our cacophonous, online "public square." - Israel, Hamas, Iran, and Related Wars
How the U.N. Forges Anti-Israel Bias — For those concerned about minimizing instances of unfair bias, an analysis of the way in which the United Nations became so biased against Israel. - Developing a Unifying Vision
America's Real Crisis Is Deeper Than Politics || David Brooks — What if politics isn’t the deepest problem? David Brooks joins Stan Christensen to explore something more fundamental: whether we’ve stopped teaching the human skills that allow us to understand one another. - US Politics
The Problem With Democrats’ Favorite Policy Proposal — An example of the kind of distributional impact statement that could do much to inform and improve our policy choices. This one looks at how the benefits of free universal child care would be distributed. - US Politics
Young Democrats Are Putting the Party Back in Politics. It’s Working. — Encouraging news that young people are getting more involved in politics. Discouraging news that it's being driven more by social opportunities than civic duty. - Race / Anti-Racism
Assimilation Is No Solution If Success Is the Problem — An interesting hypothesis -- racial animosities are driven by a desire to be protected from competition, rather than simple racism. - Climate / Environment / Health
What we spent to prevent another 9/11—and what we’re spending on the next pandemic — Twenty-five years later, some new thoughts on investing in public safety -- and a look back at what the data tell us about the wisdom of our response to two major tragedies. - Progressive Left / Socialism
Why Empathy Is Now ‘Toxic,’ ‘Suicidal,’ and a ‘Sin’ — More food for thought as we try to understand the potential downsides of what is generally a positive human emotion -- empathy. - Developing a Unifying Vision
Jamie Dimon: A Plan for the Western World’s Revival — At a time when the economic miracle that has left us all so accustomed to unprecedented levels of prosperity is rapidly fading, concrete ideas for revitalizing the global economy. - Artificial Intelligence
The One Thing Both Sides of the Data Center Fight Already Agree On — Data centers are the rarest thing in American politics right now: an issue on which increasing numbers of Republicans and Democrats agree. - Artificial Intelligence
What the AI boom is doing for Americans — As we try to balance in our own minds the benefits and costs of AI, a lengthy article that reminds us of the near-term benefits that we ought to be thinking about. - Israel, Hamas, Iran, and Related Wars
The Houthis Have a Rich Sense of Irony and Timing — Yet another example of an instance in which claims of decisive victory turn out to be tragically overstated.
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About the MBI Newsletters
Two or three times a week, Guy and Heidi Burgess, the BI Directors, share some of our thoughts on political hyper-polarization and related topics. We also share essays from our colleagues and other contributors, and every week or so, we devote one newsletter to annotated links to outside readings that we found particularly useful relating to U.S. hyper-polarization, threats to peace (and actual violence) in other countries, and related topics of interest. Each Newsletter is posted on BI, and sent out by email through Substack to subscribers. You can sign up to receive your copy here and find the latest newsletter here or on our BI Newsletter page, which also provides access to all the past newsletters, going back to 2017.
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