Articles by Mark Helprin
The Party of Lincoln Resurrects the Corpse of Stephen Douglas
Against Isolationism
Before Kristallnacht
Israel at the Precipice Once Again
What it can, should, and may yet do.
Israel at the Precipice Once Again
An Immodest Proposal
America’s spark and tinder still exist.
What We Share with Taiwan
Both Taiwan and the United States are woefully unprepared for major conflict.
My Native English Must I Now Forgo?
Now heads of state speak—like—Valley Girls?
The Disputed Question Winter 2022/23
Mark Helprin and Michael Anton on the war in Ukraine.
The Heart of the Matter
Strike the center, and the rest will follow.
Nationalism Through a Glass Darkly
Critics dismiss the virtues, necessity, and inevitability of the nation-state.
Oscars Wild
The relative dignity, restraint, and sanity of the Academy Awards are long gone.
A Tragedy of Errors
The war in Ukraine in context and perspective.
Scholasticism vs. Survival
No longer flush with victory and power in the American Century, we must now learn to think more modestly and defensively.
Once More, with Feeling
The West takes sides against itself while aping the authoritarianism of its enemies.
Two Blind Mice
Both Putin and Biden are blind to the challenge of China.
Defense Rests
We cannot survive without the defense of our sovereignty and independence.
The Spirit of the Tories
The American Loyalist spirit lives on in the Left.
The Revolution of 2020
The watchwords of the revolution of 2020 might well be, “With malice toward all, and charity for miscreants.”
Speaking Louder While Carrying a Smaller Stick
Insufficient attention has been directed to the external forces that contribute to the dissolution of the West.
Prudence and Pandemics
The lesson of this pandemic is prudence; we have not been prudent.
The Trajectory of Justice
The echoes of Plessy v. Ferguson have distorted our jurisprudence.
What Iran Sees
Unless Iran is stripped of its nuclear potential in the near future we will be facing a new and perilous front.
Pride and Prejudice at Harvard
An essay and reminiscence.
The Petrified Forest
Our fate depends upon our understanding and use of language.
Memo from Harvard Admissions
Race-blind admissions is an obvious racist tactic.
Making the Presidency Great Again
It takes more than an election to make a president.
You Say You Want a Revolution?
We are in the midst of our own cultural revolution.
Charlottesville
One year later.
The Guillotine of Sophistry
Some political and ethical issues do not present opportunities for nuance and compromise.
The Road to iSerfdom
The foundations of our liberty are washing away.
At Sea
Perhaps we will stumble into the next Great War.
In Praise of Thomas Sowell
Both his character and his work elicit admiration.
Speaking Freely
Our language wars reflect our political, philosophical, and cultural divisions.
As Europe Devolves, America Centralizes
Status updates.
Taking Terrorism Seriously
A nation which refuses effective defense and just retaliation will sooner or later cease to exist.
Defense Is Missing in Action
America's defense is missing in action.
Inequity
No good case exists for the inequality of real and intellectual property in the United States.
America’s Collapse in the Middle East
In February 1945, when President Franklin Roosevelt received Ibn Saud on the deck of the USS Quincy, the king was a supplicant.
Israel Lets Down Its Guard
Israel is able to destroy the Iranian nuclear weapons program
Lessons of Benghazi
Do Americans understand that war and death abhor a vacuum of strength
Psalm XXIII
Newly Revised, Rearranged, Expanded, and Corrected According to Modern Principles
Whither the Navy?
President Barack Obama believes, as he put it in his third debate with Republican challenger Mitt Romney, that though
Red State, Blue State
English language are ravished by contemporary American politics
Obama Hypnotized by Europa
Barack Obama asks America to cast off many of its traditions in favor of the European model of governance and society
Iran’s Mortal Threat
The Iranian nuclear program is a mortal threat the president of the United States fails adequately to address.
The Boitnott Doctrine
According to the Charlottesville Daily Progress, Doris Boitnott, assistant director of the Virginia Education Association (something one might once have called a union
The Central Proposition
Anchors Away
A Space Odyssey suggested that in another 30 years commercial flights to the moon,
Thinking About the Unthinkable, Again
Reductions in nuclear arms make America less safe.
The Common Defense
further reductions in American military power are warranted and unavoidable
Why Israel Needs Nuclear Weapons
Sixty-five years after Germany's campaign to exterminate the Jews, of the many countries in the world Israel is the only one repeatedly subjected to calls for its extinction
Hollow Talk in the South China Sea
Lurking about the presidency in the guise of secretary of state,
Farewell to the China Station
If two locomotives are running at each other on the same track, it is possible that one will derail before impact or an earthquake will disalign their paths, but more likely—here is what is going to happen in the Western Pacific as the United States and China converge on a collision course.
The Fate of the Raptor
Cancelling the F-22 Raptor, the most capable fighter plane ever produced, is yet another act in the tragedy of a nation.
Obama Blinks Twice
With both a collapsing economy and natural gas reserves sufficient to produce 270 years of electricit
K-Street Consultants’ Memo to the Somali Pirates
Memo to the Somali Pirates
First, Do No Harm
Improving the American health care system.
A Tender Salute and Pleasant Reply
Mark Helprin rebuts Peter Wehner's defense of the Bush Doctrine.
Rich Country, Strong Arms
We ignore China's grand strategy at our peril.
Make the Sudan an Offer It Can’t Refuse
Which would the regime in Sudan prefer - annihilation or the discontinuation of its campaign of mass murder?
McCain Mutiny
McCain is the only Republican candidate with a chance of winning, and thus preserving conservatism.
The New Soft Underbelly of Europe
Germany, Russia, and the evolving situation in Europe.
A Rare Alignment
In the heat of a failing war, historical processes have unfrozen.
China as a Rising Nuclear Power
China is not as technically dependent as we are.
The Worst Generation Faces the Greatest Peril
We face a danger that approaches steadily from the far distance like a tsunami in slow motion.
The Literary Tenor of the Times
The Hidden Meanings of Bernard de Con's Account of the Assault on Fort Ticonderoga.
The War in Lebanon
Why Israel won this battle, but greater ones lie ahead.
Migrant Thoughts
When nations in decline are assaulted from without, they often lose the capacity to defend sensibly.
Constitution or Tyranny
The Left openly disdains the Constitution when it frustrates any of their preferences.
The Democratic Peace
Democracies are peaceful countries?
Herd Animals
Why does the Left so often abstain from defending not only American interests but the U.S. itself?
Let Us Count the Ways
A strategy for victory in the war on terrorism.
War in the Absence of Strategic Clarity
More than merely winning the war in Iraq, we needed to stun the Arab World.