We Are in Grave Danger: History Makes It Explicitly Clear

In 1959, Stefan T. Possony, international security strategist, warned about the insidious attack of Communist ideology and its "paralysis" of Western society.

In a strategy lesson republished by the U.S. Department of Defense, he wrote, "We would be foolish to ignore that the Communists have made great strides in the art of psychological manipulation.

"The West does not yet understand the nature of the psychological attack that has been launched. It does not comprehend the causes of its paralysis, and often does not even notice that its freedom to act has been impeded."

Startlingly, many Americans remain ignorant as their "freedom to act" is strangled. That’s why I wrote "Last Warning to the West: Hungary’s Triumph Over Communism and the Woke Agenda."

Hungary succeeded in turning a Nazi- and Communist-occupied and exploited country, struggling for survival and autonomy, into an independent and prosperous nation — while maintaining their unique Magyar identity.

The story of Hungary has much to teach us, if we are willing to learn.

Today’s "progressivism" sweeping the Western World is rooted in the same Bolshevik Marxism that destroyed Eastern Europe and millions of lives, and continues to destroy our Western traditions based on human dignity and freedom.

Aspects of Bolshevism have integrated into American society: legalized abortion-on-demand trumpeted as healthcare; diminishment of parental rights and authority; liberalization of marriage and divorce leading to the ultimate decay of the family. In 1990, the USSR accounted for 10-20% of all abortions globally, with 6.5 million each year.

Progressivism seeks change for power’s sake — not for the progress of society.

On the contrary, on many issues — open borders, surgical "transitioning," abortion on demand, promoting racial divisiveness, embracing lawlessness, suppressing free speech and political opposition, abhorring religiosity, and applauding the degradation of cities —"progressives" increase and consolidate power through the destruction of society, and with it, our national pride and security.

This quote from Chapter 10 of "Last Warning to the West" sums it up:

"The West may have defeated the Russians in the Cold War in terms of territorial expansion, but they did not win the Cold War of ideology. Instead, they perpetuated and enabled the spread of communism — and at the end of World War II, they gave the Communists the people, the land, and the power to reach this goal.

"Recently on a trip to Budapest, I was startled by the number of Hungarians who told me (with confused looks on their faces) that the rhetoric currently coming out of the United States reminds them of their own 'Soviet days.' We should pay attention — our government, corporations, and our media and political elites find it way too easy to oppress freedom of thought and speech, to 'cancel' those who disagree with their ideological or political agenda, and to use regular deception, 'lawfare' and audacious lies to take away people’s livelihoods and reputation."

The Biden administration, and Obama before it, embraces Marxism while rejecting American principles, with "policies" that destroy America’s heart and our relations with foreign governments.

Read the Republican Platform 2016.

You’ll see that the challenges the GOP faced following eight years of Obama’s "Leading from Behind" are exactly the same America-destroying policies that Biden pushes, except his administration is more reckless and emboldened.

Like Obama, Biden uses the military for his social agenda, panders to globalists, funds Hamas terrorism, and neglects U.S. interests and security.

I had the privilege of working alongside senior Trump officials during President Donald Trump’s administration on many issues. I know firsthand how difficult it is to undo Obama’s "managed decline" of America and our leadership.

Now, more than ever, U.S. leadership is sorely needed on the global stage.

America needs the return of Donald Trump to the presidency.

Biden’s presidency has cost the U.S. hard-won prestige, credibility, and the power to deter the bad actors of Russia, China, and the Mideast — a result of his demonstrated weakness, terrible polices, and costly withdrawal from Afghanistan. Wars and unrest in Eastern Europe and the Mideast threaten to create a broader — and possibly nuclear — conflict.

U.S. national insecurity is further exacerbated by his border "policies" allowing undocumented illegal immigrants, terrorists, and deadly fentanyl to flow into U.S. communities. Are we, as Barbara Tuchman wrote in "The Guns of August," describing the lead up to World War I, only "thirty days" from a world-wide disaster?

Global attitudes toward the U.S. are at an all-time low.

Following WWII, the world looked to the U.S. as a guiding light for freedom, prosperity, and democratic values, yet today our foreign policy and aid promotes progressive social ideology (cultural Marxism; Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI); radical gender ideology; abortion), trampling on our allies’ sovereignty and religious freedom.

Trump’s constitutionally-aligned domestic policies prospered the U.S. economy and made Americans much safer, just as his foreign policies deterred an invasion into Ukraine and a terrorist attack on Israel.

Kari Lake wrote the foreword for "Last Warning to the West," beginning "You now have in your hands one of the last warnings we may ever ger concerning the slow-motion collapse of America’s democratic republic."

We must stop America’s collapse at all costs. Nearing the end of the cold war, former President Ronald Reagan reminded the world: " . . . this is precisely our mission today; to preserve freedom as well as peace . . .  I believe we live now at a turning point."

The journey that Hungary took to throw off authoritarian oppression and later to say "no" to the EU’s Woke agenda is a model for us, and it is fascinating — full of hope and despair, courage and fear, unbearable brutality and great, enduring humanity. And, as Lake concludes, "the time to heed the warning is now."

Shea Bradley-Farrell, Ph.D. is president of Counterpoint Institute for Policy, Research and Education in Washington, D.C. and an expert in national security and foreign policy. She is also the first international senior fellow for the Center For Fundamental Rights in Budapest, Hungary. Her book, Last Warning to the West, Hungary’s Triumph Over Communism and the Woke Agenda will be available on Amazon on December 7, 2023.