[The European Conservative] Up From Fusionism

Conservatives may feel adrift in the marketplace of ideas, but according to Yoram Hazony’s masterful new book, they have stood on firm intellectual ground all along.

Conservatism: A Rediscovery. By Yoram Hazony. Regnery; 441 pages; $29.99.

On day one of my job leading a right-of-center think-tank in Madrid, my boss awaited a moment of ambient quiet to hurriedly sneak into my office, a bulky item hidden beneath his blazer. Just about any classic in the liberal-conservative tradition would have befitted the occasion of my appointment, but the secrecy of this particular gift hinted at something else, something intended to inform not my public duties at our think-tank’s helm but my private conduct as an individual. Being as privately Christian as one is outwardly liberal, after all, has turned into something of a maxim in our space, steeped as organizations like mine are in the writings of Michael Novak and the teachings of the Acton Institute. The gift was a copy of the Catholic Church’s Catechism, and it came with an appointment to go see a faith advisor. I must confess I was somewhat taken aback by such blunt interference in my inner life, as if my boss had, by overstepping the outer boundary of our professional rapport, left me vulnerable to further encroachments.

This book review ran in the 2022 winter edition of The European Conservative. To read it in its entirety, access it here.