“I’m not sure we will have free and fair elections in two years in the United States,” said Robert Kagan at Oxford

Kagan delivered the prestigious Dahrendorf Lecture at St Antony's College, Oxford, as a requiem for the American order—and called on Europe to re-arm.

**This is an extra newsletter for the week—I wanted to share the details of this timely and intriguing lecture with you.

“I’m not sure we will have free and fair elections in two years in the US,” said Robert Kagan in Oxford.

The remark prompted many in the audience to look around in disbelief, checking whether they had heard him correctly.

Kagan was responding to a question from Dimitar Bechev, director of the Dahrendorf Programme, about the likely outcome of the 2026 U.S. midterm elections.

Last Friday, Kagan delivered one of the most prestigious lectures at St Antony’s College—and indeed, at the University of Oxford—the Dahrendorf Lecture. Inaugurated 17 years ago by the liberal thinker and former Warden of St Antony’s, it has since been shaped into a major intellectual event by another prominent liberal voice, Timothy Garton Ash.

It was an intriguing lecture. Kagan’s stamina in responding to what felt like an endless stream of questions from the audience was impressive. He is, without …