If you think another civil war is imminent, get off Twitter

America's virtual civil war is bound to stay online

A digitized Civil War scene.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Library of Congress)

Is the United States careening toward a new civil war? A surprisingly wide array of commentators appear to think so.

In the turbulent opening months of the Trump administration, Foreign Policy magazine asked security experts about the likelihood of the country descending into widespread civil violence over the next 10-15 years, and the consensus put the odds at about 30 percent. Others, including The New Yorker and The Nation, have posed the question to historians. Meanwhile, on the right, National Review, The American Conservative, and historian Niall Ferguson have begun to take the question quite seriously, while most recently, fabled investigative journalist Carl Bernstein leavened his CNN commentary on the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings by describing the Supreme Court nomination fight as "almost the Gettysburg and Antietam, the absolutely essential battles" of our "cold civil war."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Damon Linker

Damon Linker is a senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is also a former contributing editor at The New Republic and the author of The Theocons and The Religious Test.