Walter Russell Mead discusses academics’ whining about artificial intelligence, 200 years of United States failure in Haiti, the “great slackening” in American high schools, and why Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu both benefit from fighting each other in public on his podcast, What Really Matters.

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President Donald Trump shakes hands with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen as he announces a trade deal with the EU at Trump Turnberry golf club on July 27, 2025, in Turnberry, Scotland. (Andrew Harnik via Getty Images)