Newsletter #470 — July 5, 2026

by Guy Burgess and Heidi Burgess

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Highlighted Links

A few suggestions about links that we think are especially interesting.

• Developing a Unifying Vision
  Democrats Became Great by Fighting the Left — An important and timely history lesson that tells us about the period following World War II, when socialists and communists struggled with liberals for control of the Democratic Party.
• US Politics
  Is America’s MAGA Wing Giving Up on America? — Disturbing news that a growing faction within the Make America Great movement is concluding that America was deeply flawed and that democracy and freedom are not compatible.
• Social / Economic Complexity
  The American age was the human age — A thoughtful argument that the United States' principal contribution to humanity has been a system of government that allows people to get ahead by doing things that benefit their fellow citizens.  
• Developing a Unifying Vision
  Rays of Hope in Dark Times — A much needed and, even better, persuasive argument that things are not as bleak as they appear.
• Progressive Left
  Trump Opened the Window for the DSA — For those wondering how the Democratic Party could have so suddenly embraced so many socialist candidates, an answer -- its singular focus on fighting Trump.
• Interstate War
  These terrifying weapons will redefine war. America must wield them. — Like it or not, a world in which wars are fought with autonomous AI-driven weapons is upon us. Our future depends on making the right decisions about what to do with these weapons.
• Artificial Intelligence
  Can AI Repair the Broken Modern State? — Thoughts about ways in which AI might actually be able to help us build a democracy that comes closer to living up to its ideals.

Reader Suggested Links

Highlighting links suggested by our readers. Please send us links to things that you find useful.

• Family / Gender / LBGTQ+
  Is the Left Driving Women Away? — A surprising article about how Democrats, who have traditionally received disproportionate support from women, might actually be starting to lose some of that support.
• Artificial Intelligence
  The People Who Will Thrive in the AI Age — More thoughtful, practical advice on strategies for surviving coming economic and social upheavals related to AI.
• Family / Gender / LBGTQ+
  Is It Time for a New Sexual Revolution? — Thoughts about a new and much more promising way of thinking about the relationship between men and women -- one focused on commonalities, rather than differences.
• US Politics
  Socialists Spell Trouble for Democrats — From a veteran political analyst, and argument that the new socialist candidates will undermine Democratic prospects this fall.
• Race / Anti-Racism
  How Jack Became Black - FAIR SCREENING — For our increasingly multiracial society, a story highlighting ways in which the current system frequently asks people to make uncomfortable and unreasonable choices -- choices that ask them to disavow much of their ancestry.
• Constructive Communication
  ‘Disagreement itself has become morally legible’: Glenn Loury critiques self-censorship — A thoughtful exploration of the far-reaching implications of an intellectual climate in which people self-censor with the goal of not having to defend even remotely controversial ideas.
• Developing a Unifying Vision
  Toward Ethical Populism — From a right-leaning, populist perspective, thoughts about how their movement might be improved in ways which would give it a more positive impact.

Colleague Activities

Highlighting things that our conflict and peacebuilding colleagues are doing that contribute to efforts to address the hyper-polarization problem.

• Inflammatory Media
  How to Handle Conflict Entrepreneurs — A new mini course and toolkit with constructive suggestions for persuading conflict profiteers to start acting in ways that strengthen, rather than undermine, democracy.
• Artificial Intelligence
  Can AI Strengthen Deliberative Democracy — or Will It Only Simulate It? New Carnegie Research Makes the Case for Democratic Governance Infrastructure — An article examining the genuine democratic possibilities of AI-augmented deliberation -- and the governance infrastructure that does not yet exist to realize them responsibly.
• Developing a Unifying Vision
  Taken Together — John Paul Lederach reflects on the meaning and health of U.S. democracy, and how it relates to the health of the world.
• Peacebuilding
  Renewing the UN’s Toolbox for Peace and Security — Amidst growing funding constraints, hardening geopolitical rivalries, and surging conflicts, how should the UN “get back to basics”?
• Interstate War
  Non-nuclear Weapons for First Strike Missions — Assessment of current conventional weapons for strategic counterforce and mutual reassurance.
• Peacebuilding
  How Do Peacebuilders Raise Money? — Dylan Mathews, CEO of Peace Direct, talks about how peacebuilders raise money in an era of shrinking aid budgets and shifting political priorities.
• Peacebuilding
  Post-U.S. International Democracy Support: Aspiration in Search of Substance — A Carnegie Endowment for International Peace report analyzing whether major donors' renewed commitment to development is being matched by concrete action and what a post-U.S. democracy agenda might actually look like.
• Peacebuilding
  Renewing Peacebuilding for a Disrupted World Incubation Space — A report from the recent Geneva Incubation Space that explored how the peace and security architecture can adapt to a rapidly changing global context.
• Saving Democracy
  How the pro-democracy movement is misreading Gen Z — This National Youth Takeover Day, let’s stop misdiagnosing young people as apathetic about democracy.
• Constructive Communication
  Deliberative Technologies in Youth, Peace & Security: Promise, Practice, and the Uptake Gap — A report examining instances of peacebuilders putting AI-enabled deliberative tools into practice, what these efforts enable, what obstacles they face, and the lessons that the field can learn.
• Race / Anti-Racism
  This Juneteenth, what will it take to create an America that works for all of us? — A reflection co-authored by Rich Harwood and Lawrence Wofford, Chair of the Selma-Dallas County NAACP.
• Psychological Complexity
  The pressure to be unlike people we despise — Can the fact that “they” like chocolate ice cream make us like it less? Zachary Elwood asks.
• Media Reform
  What if Algorithms Rewarded Bridge-Building? — Explore how Aemula flips the math on media polarization by financially compensating writers who pull diverse communities closer together.
• Constructive Communication
  Legendary Pitmaster Ryan Mitchell Tells Us What He’s Learned About Bringing People Together — BBQ expert Ryan Mitchell talks about why sharing a meal face-to-face matters more than ever and what generations of his family sacrificed to keep the barbecue tradition alive.
• US Politics
  Voting Red Again: How Social Capital and Local Change Drove the Trump Swing — Bonding social capital -- the formal and informal ties that hold communities together from within -- is robustly connected with higher Trump vote margins, while bridging social capital runs the other way.
• Civil Society
  Snohomish County is Showing us What Civics Looks Like — A summary of the Snohomish County, Washington's civic assembly on governmental use of AI.
• Constructive Communication
  Stop Talking, Start Building: Rich Harwood on How Divided Towns Can Build Something Together. — What does it take to heal a divided town? Less talking, more building, says Rich Harwood.
• Communication Complexity
  What Stories Are Americans Watching — and What Does It Mean for Democracy? New Research from Harmony Labs — Harmony Labs, a media research organization, has released a series of findings from its multi-year partnership with Democracy 2076, examining how entertainment media shapes Americans' beliefs about government and democratic participation. 
• Saving Democracy
  Trustworthy Elections — A collaborative effort to strengthen trust in elections through education, dialogue, and community connection.
• Constructive Communication
  Talking politics with friends, families, and voters — Two videos from Erica Etelson on ways of talking successfully with people "on the other side."
• Constructive Communication
  NYC works with civic engagement groups to refine public meetings — An important reminder that there are lots of opportunities for the public to participate in democratic decision-making processes (and that these opportunities can and are being improved upon.)

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.)

• US Politics
  The Democrats have their own MAGA now — An especially informative look at just how different the Democratic Party's new socialists are from what had previously been the party's mainstream.
• Superpower Conflict
  The Foreign-Policy Debate Democrats Need to Have — An important reminder that the ongoing battle for control of the Democratic Party is also a hugely consequential battle over the direction of the nation's foreign policy, should the Democrats return to power.
• US Politics
  A Working-Class Party Without Many Workers — A compilation, with lots of links, to political science research into the growing divide between the Democratic Party and the working classes that used to be its core constituents.
• Corruption
  The Trump Family and ‘Honest Graft’ — From the Wall Street Journal, a jaw dropping and reasonably unbiased summary of just how much money the Trump family has made from his second Presidency.
• Media Reform
  In Praise of Substack Philosophy — An enlightening article that explains why Substack is so different and why that difference allows it to make such a strong contribution to the larger media environment.
• Developing a Unifying Vision
  What Real Diversity Looks Like — A profile of the Becket Fund -- an organization does an especially good job of promoting diversity by defending religious liberty for people of disparate faiths.
• Saving Democracy
  Changing the Constitution: Five Proposals for a More Perfect Union — For those looking for ways in which we might be able to strengthen U.S. Democracy, a compilation of ideas.
• Media Reform
  The Miseducation of American Journalists — A look at the complex effect that recent changes in the teaching of journalism have had on the way we learn about and view our society.
• Interstate War
  War by Other Means — Another excellent article that helps us better understand the way in which warfare is changing and the implications of those changes.
• US Politics
  The Democracies Can Still Triumph — For a time in which democracy seems to be in decline everywhere and authoritarianism seems to be spreading, a hopeful argument that democracy is still stronger.
• Culture and Religion
  Liberals Are Preaching Moral Values. What Took Them So Long? — After a long period in which moral relativism led many on the left to see all value systems as equally valid, there is now a major trend toward the articulation and defense of specific value systems.
• Interstate War
  The Military and the Republic — As technological changes are forcing the United States into a massive new arms race, thoughts about the proper relationship between the military and larger society.
• Climate / Environment / Health
  Ending respiratory infections — A helpful story explaining how we might realistically be able to eliminate the respiratory infections that cause so much misery. All we need to do is quit fighting and start working together effectively.
• Israel, Hamas, Iran, and Related Wars
  The Key Difference Between Jewish Extremists and Islamists — An eye-opening look at the Jewish extremists who are fighting for a secure state and the Islamists who are fighting to destroy Israel.
• Race / Anti-Racism
  Evanston’s Race Reparations in the Dock — A summary of Evanston, Illinois' reparations program and the intense legal controversy it has provoked.
• Progressive Left
  Progressive Asceticism Will Never Win Elections — A thought-provoking article that explains why the left's constant focus on all of the things that are wrong with our society may actually be undermining its support.
• Race / Anti-Racism
  How a Nation of Immigrants Traces Its Roots — Some really great graphics highlighting the astonishing array of immigrants that have come to call the United States home.
• Saving Democracy
  Is This Liberalism’s Last Stand? — Another summary (with more links) to what political scientists think about the coming struggle between traditional liberals and the ascendant Democratic Socialists of America.
• Artificial Intelligence
  We Are Losing the Ability to Discover What We Didn’t Know to Ask — Another article that helps us understand how AI is changing the way we think (and whether the changes are something we should resist or something we should embrace).
• Civic Education
  #2 Recovering the Founders' Vision of Civic Education — As we start to think about ways in which civic education might help us better address democracy's difficulties, an article that summarizes what nation's founders thought should be taught.

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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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