Can We Restore the West?

This new initiative is well worth getting behind:

It was Churchill who once quipped that ‘Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried’. One might say similar things about the West. It is of course far from perfect, but compared to so much of the rest of the world, the West has been one of the great and long-standing experiments in life, liberty, prosperity and goodness.

But the West is under attack today perhaps more so than it has ever been. Its enemies are many, and sadly it is not just those from without who are working overtime to bring it down, but there are far too many working from within to see it destroyed and remade into their own sordid image.

Tough times call for tough measures, as the saying goes. When we see the West being attacked in this way, action is required. When we see moral and mental decline all around us, then resistance is needed. When we see corrupt governments, activist judges, rogue and biased media outlets, and woke wonders declaring war on all that we hold near and dear, then new leadership and new movements are required.

Many are doing their bit to make America and the West great again. We can applaud their efforts, and we can hope that others will join in with this life and death struggle over Westen civilisation. It is well worth fighting for, warts and all. It is worth preserving, championing and defending.

One new player who surely believes all this is Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Many of you know about this former Muslim, former atheist, and now Christian commentator and activist. Those needing a bit more information about her can check out what I recently said about her and her husband, historian Niall Ferguson: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2026/01/25/on-ayaan-and-niall/  

Just today she has launched a new initiative called “Restoring the West”. And she has shared with us the “Restoring the West Manifesto”. She says she is ‘fighting for the restoration of what made the West great’. The entire document is worth presenting to you here. She begins with these introductory remarks:

I spent the first part of my life living under oppression. I know what it means to be silenced, to have your freedom stolen, to watch a civilization reject the very values that make human flourishing possible. I also know what it means to be free. And I know that freedom is not inevitable — it must be defended, understood, and taught anew to every generation. The West is at risk of losing that fight. And too many people who should be leading the defense have no idea how to do so. That’s why we’re launching Restoring the West.

She then speaks about “The Crisis We Face”:

The civilization that gave the world individual liberty, the rule of law, scientific inquiry, and human dignity is under siege — not primarily from external enemies, but from internal collapse.

 

Many of our institutions have been captured. Too many of our universities teach students to despise their own inheritance of broad thought and discourse. Our media amplifies every grievance to leftist ideology, while ignoring threats from intolerant ideologies and forces. Our leaders lack the moral vocabulary and fortitude to defend what we’ve built.

 

Meanwhile, illiberal ideologies — from political Islamism to postmodern identity politics — advance unchecked, demanding submission to group identity over individual conscience, censorship over free speech, and tribal loyalty over universal human rights.

 

Classical liberals and conservatives? Too often, we’re losing. We win elections but lose the culture. We defend policies but surrender the principles. We react to provocations but fail to plant ideas that endure. We even wage wars to liberate oppressed people in other nations, yet we fail to explain—both to outsiders and to our own citizens—the moral absolutes that demand we use our power against evil, such as the death cult that served as the operating system of Iran’s Islamist regime.

 

The West will not be restored by winning news cycles. It will be restored by winning the argument for why the West is worth preserving.

She next discusses “Our Guiding Principles”:

DEFEND JUDEO-CHRISTIAN VALUES, UNAPOLOGETICALLY

The features that have uniquely made our civilization a place where all can flourish are rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition: individual liberty, equality before the law, freedom of conscience and expression, and the dignity of every human being. These values built free societies. These values are now under attack. We will defend them without apology or equivocation.

 

FIGHT ILLIBERALISM IN ALL ITS FORMS

Whether cloaked in religious orthodoxy or academic jargon, illiberalism seeks the same end: the suppression of individual freedom in service of collective control. We oppose political Islam, which seeks to impose religious law on free societies. We oppose postmodern ideologies that replace individual rights with identity hierarchies. We refuse to choose between these threats. We recognize them both as enemies of Western civilization.

 

PLANT IDEAS THAT ENDURE

This publication is not about outrage or affirmation. It’s about intellectual ammunition. Every piece we publish will advance a clear argument, address serious objections, and connect to the project of civilizational renewal. We write for people who need to be persuaded, not just people who already agree. Our goal is to shape minds, change debates, and arm veterans and new generations for the work ahead.

 

SPEAK WITH MORAL CLARITY

I did not escape one form of oppression to tolerate another. I will not pretend that all cultures are equal, that all ideas are equally valid, or that we can restore the West through euphemism and evasion. Moral clarity is not extremism — it’s the precondition for moral action. We will say what is true, even when the truth is uncomfortable.

Then we learn about “FIVE PILLARS, ONE MISSION”

Everything we publish connects to the civilizational foundations we must restore:

• Faith & Family – The roots of free societies
• Education – Where the future is won or lost
• Law & Liberty – Without which we are subjects, not citizens
• Nation & Citizenship – The framework for self-governance
• Media, Arts & Culture – Where values are formed or deformed

These aren’t talking points. These are the fronts in a war for civilization itself.

The document concludes with these words:

SMART BREVITY, SERIOUS PURPOSE

Busy people need clear arguments, not bloated essays. We respect your time by making every word count. But efficiency serves substance, not the other way around. We will never sacrifice intellectual rigor for algorithmic reach or dumb down complex arguments for easier consumption. Excellence is the standard we want restored in our civilization — it’s the standard we hold ourselves to here.

 

Why This Matters

I have seen what happens when civilizations abandon their principles. I have lived under the thuggish sandal of illiberalism. I know the price of freedom because I know what life costs without it.

 

Too many of the institutions that once defended Western civilization have failed or been captured. The task of restoration falls to us — to those who understand what’s at stake and refuse to surrender what generations before us built and bled for.

 

This is not pessimism. This is realism coupled with resolve.

The West can be saved. But only if we’re willing to make the argument for why it deserves to be saved — and then do the work required to save it.

Welcome to Restoring the West.

This is found here: https://www.restoringthewest.com/p/the-restoring-the-west-manifesto

I for one have been very encouraged to see this Manifesto and to know that people like Ayaan Hirsi Ali are throwing themselves fully into such a project. It is sorely needed, and it is hoped that many will get on board with it.

Needless to say, I understand that manifestoes and politics and culture wars and so on will not be able to fully save the West and cure what really ails it. At bottom the problems of the West are spiritual in nature, and only a full-hearted return to God and his word will really fix the West.

But she would know this as well, and so we can support the Restore the West project while also praying that God might bless this and similar efforts and use them for his purposes. Without God, the West IS toast. But in his grace he might give it a reprieve, and an initiative like this might well be part of how we can turn things around – at least to some extent.

Well done Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

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