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Bret Stephens

Bret Stephens

Wall Street Journal

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Rays of Hope in Dark Times

It’s time to update Learned Hand’s great “Spirit of Liberty” address.

tuesday 1

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

Triumph of the Tasteless

Triumph of the Tasteless

This is an era of illusion, and Musk and Trump are the self-adoring, self-promoting emblems and emperors of it.

25.06.2026 30

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

If You Love America, Cringe for It

Let’s remember who we once were, because it’s what we may yet be again.

23.06.2026 30

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

Trump’s Titanic Insecurities Are Sinking Us

The president has found a new trap door in Iran.

18.06.2026 20

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

Iran Found Trump’s Bone Spur

In a contest of wills, the hard men of Tehran prevailed over the vain man of Washington.

16.06.2026 20

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

Is There Nothing Voters Won’t Forgive?

Is there nothing voters won’t forgive?

11.06.2026 30

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

The Good That Can Come From Platner’s Candidacy

The Senate race in Maine is a chance to do away with inconsistent standards applied according to political bias.

09.06.2026 10

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

The Fluffernutter Theory of Trump

Mindless optimism is the only antidote to rational despair.

04.06.2026 70

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

Dear President Ozymandias

Look on his works and despair.

02.06.2026 10

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

Saints and Sinners, From the Vatican to the Alamo

Texas just got a lot more interesting.

28.05.2026 20

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

Deal or No Deal With Iran

A deal to end the current blockade is merely an enticement for the next blockade and the one after that.

26.05.2026 10

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

Hatred of Israel and the Degradation of the West

Feeding narratives to the credulous isn’t speaking truth to power.

20.05.2026 350

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

The Trump Dumpster Fire Is Lit

When MAHA turns into HAHA.

14.05.2026 20

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

China Is Much Weaker Than It Seems. That’s the Problem.

History shows there is no more productive national asset than freedom.

12.05.2026 90

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

Graham Platner Is a Rorschach Test

We are living in an ugly era of ugly choices.

07.05.2026 60

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

A Democrat Who Makes Me Listen

An interview with Representative Jake Auchincloss, a Democrat from the charismatic center.

05.05.2026 20

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

I’m Not a King, but I Play One on TV

Is there something to this whole monarchy thing?

30.04.2026 20

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

The Banality of Evil, Again

The distinguishing feature of Cole Tomas Allen’s manifesto is its insipidity.

28.04.2026 20

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

And Then There Were None, Trump Administration Edition

Normal language is inadequate and precedents are irrelevant when it comes to appraising the senior administration officials of the president’s...

23.04.2026 20

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

An Academic Miracle

A Yale report offers some honest self-reflection on where the university went wrong.

21.04.2026 40

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

Who Doesn’t Get Trump Mixed Up With Jesus?

In a strange era, a stranger turn.

16.04.2026 80

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

How Trump Can Wrap Up the War

He can offer the regime a series of fundamental choices.

14.04.2026 20

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

The Iranian Advantage Is an Illusion

And in Tehran, the truth should be clear.

07.04.2026 30

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

Tastelessness and Classlessness Are the Least of Our Concerns

Tastelessness and classlessness are the least of our concerns.

02.04.2026 50

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

Yes, This Is Your War, Too

Even opponents of the conflict should want to see Iran defanged and defeated.

31.03.2026 40

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

Men of the Trump Administration, 2026

Are Democrats ugly? Asking for a friend.

26.03.2026 70

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

The War Is Going Better Than You Think

How the fight in Iran compares to past conflicts.

24.03.2026 60

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

It’s Trump World. We Just Live in It.

Be careful what you wish for.

19.03.2026 70

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

For Once, We Fight With an Equal Ally

Israel is the rare U.S. ally that pulls its weight, shares the risk and contributes to victory.

17.03.2026 50

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

How Does This End? Four Scenarios for What Comes Next With Iran.

The best hope? Weaken the regime’s ability to lash out and resist an uprising.

10.03.2026 50

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

Trump and Netanyahu Are Doing the Free World a Favor

American hearts should be moved by moments like this, when free nations band together to administer justice and supply hope.

01.03.2026 60

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

The Trumpiest Trump We’ve Ever Beheld

The president is becoming the very thing that destroyed the Democrats: a reality-denying machine.

26.02.2026 40

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

The Case for Striking Iran

The Iranian people should not be let down again.

22.02.2026 200

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

Who Would Win Gold in the Coward Olympics?

There are a lot of potential contestants.

19.02.2026 150

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

Western Civ Can Save Us — Again

Marco Rubio reminds an audience in Munich of what still unites us.

18.02.2026 350

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

Dissidents Are Silenced, and the West Moves On

On Jimmy Lai and the future of freedom.

11.02.2026 90

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

Trump Brings Out the Worst in Everyone

Us included.

05.02.2026 60

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

Will Newsom Be the Democrats’ Next Mistake?

The California governor’s record is exactly what Republicans want to run against.

04.02.2026 150

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

Should Iran’s Executioners Go Unpunished?

It’s left to the United States to impose meaningful consequences on the Iranian regime for one of the worst atrocities of this century.

28.01.2026 80

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

Donald Trump, Live From Davos

It’s striking how clearheadedly and defiantly Europeans are reacting to the president’s provocations.

22.01.2026 30

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

An Unhinged President on the Magic Mountain

Trump’s Davos speech could have been ghostwritten by Mario Puzo.

22.01.2026 100

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

The Gaudy, Nasty Fictions of Donald J. Trump

This is neither law nor order, and the consequences can be deadly.

15.01.2026 100

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

The Ayatollahs’ Antisemitism Has Undone Iran

A regime that would rather pursue a perpetual jihad against the Zionist enemy than feed its own people will eventually fall.

14.01.2026 50

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

Venezuela Is the Tip of the Iceberg

In the Trump era, there are a lot of contenders for the 51st state.

08.01.2026 60

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

There Were Good Reasons to Depose Maduro

But taking Venezuela’s oil while leaving the regime in place weren’t among them.

07.01.2026 40

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

Our Petty, Hollow, Squalid Ogre in Chief

The White House has never had a more loathsome occupant.

17.12.2025 1000

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

Bondi Beach Is What ‘Globalize the Intifada’ Looks Like

When a slogan’s real meaning comes true.

15.12.2025 250

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

Europe, Too, Is Worth Fighting For

Provided Europeans want to fight for it.

10.12.2025 40

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

Ukraine Is Still Worth Fighting For

Don’t let Trump sell out its freedom for business deals with Putin.

03.12.2025 30

The New York Times

Bret Stephens

All of the Turkeys Ain’t in the Zoo

Many affluent Americans no longer believe in civic institutions or community groups.

27.11.2025 40

The New York Times

Bret Stephens