Understanding Our Disruptive Moment in History – and What It Requires

The old order is dead. The Right has a revolutionary theory of the moment that promises renewal. Unless we can counter it with a transformative vision, we will lose.

By Thomas Zimmer, June 29, 2026

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The old world is dying. Defending the status quo is no longer an option: It is neither an adequate response to the challenge we face nor is it viable electorally. We live in a profoundly disruptive moment. Restoration won’t do. A credible transformation is the only way forward.

I have not been able to do much work lately. Most of Europe has been suffering under an unprecedented heatwave. Friday broke the record for the hottest day ever recorded in German history: 41.3 degrees Celsius (a little over 106 degrees Fahrenheit) near Saarbrücken in the country’s south-west. It took just 24 hours for the record to be broken (S'ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre) again: 41.5 degrees Celsius (106.7 Fahrenheit) were measured on Saturday in Saxony-Anhalt in eastern Germany.

I live in Hamburg, up north, which sits at the same latitude as Dublin, Ireland, Liverpool, UK, and Edmonton, Canada. It is a port city, close to the North Sea, shaped by a maritime climate. Extreme heat is supposed to be rare up here. We had 39.4 degrees Celsius (S'ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre) (103 Fahrenheit) on Saturday, smashing the previous record for the month of June.

Most of my readers live in the United States. Depending on where you are, you may look at these temperatures and think: It’s not that bad, is it? But remember, the vast majority of people here have to make it through the punishing heat without air conditioning. Schools and daycares, hospitals, public transportation… AC is rare. In private households, you will almost never find it. I am writing this after spending most of the past 72 hours in our little basement with my family. The rest of the house is basically uninhabitable. We are among the lucky ones: We have a basement.

Why does no one have AC, you may ask? Well, there are many reasons, I suppose – but the most profound one is that our homes and cities were built for a world that is no more. It’s simply not supposed to be this hot so early in the summer and for such a long period of time. But that’s the thing: The old rules don’t apply anymore. 

I don’t want to push the symbolic significance of this heatwave too far. But it should serve as a reminder that we are facing major disruptions – politically, socially, technologically, economically, environmentally. And unless we come up with transformative answers that are commensurate with these challenges, we will suffer.

I had planned to write about the bizarre spectacle of America’s semiquincentennial last week – asking what, exactly, it is that we are asked to commemorate at the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. That piece will be coming soon, hopefully still before the Fourth of July weekend. But today, I want to offer something else – a broader reflection on where this moment sits in history. If I have a core message, it might be this: We are not witnessing some accidental departure - but we are living through a profound disruption nevertheless, one that makes any attempt at “politics as usual” largely obsolete.

I am not just talking about Trump, who is himself more a manifestation than the cause of a long-standing anti-democratic radicalization of the American Right. Nor am I merely referring to the political situation in the United States more broadly, which is best understood as the latest iteration of a struggle that stretches back all the way to the Founding. I believe we are at an inflection point not just in the history of the American Republic, but indeed in recent global history.

I know this all sounds rather abstract: A grand reflection on historical continuity and disruption... And I understand this may seem frustratingly removed from the more immediate, more pressing tasks of the day. But bear with me: I believe it is precisely because the challenges ahead are so profound that we better come up with a good answer to the question of where this moment sits in history. What are the broader historical forces that got us here, that are tearing the present apart and shaping a future whose contours we cannot yet grasp? 

Unless we get that diagnosis right, we are doomed to fumble about in the dark. Unless we grasp the assignment, our response is destined to fall woefully short of the task ahead.

The more I talk to journalists, politicians, and diplomats the more I realize how much work there is still to be done. Understanding why the old world is truly dying, acknowledging that there will not be a return to the status quo ante, that any political project built around the idea of restoration must inevitably fail… it is a massive challenge, both politically and intellectually. But there is simply no way around it.

So, here, in an attempt to convey the stakes of our moment, are eight propositions about this inflection point in history: About how the political, economic, technological, and environmental crises intersect and why they are escalating now – and about the political implications of recognizing the profound disruption we are witnessing.