Beyond Our Shores starts with an irony I’ve enjoyed for years:
There are almost no European-style conservatives in the United States, people who want to defend a status quo based on hierarchy, tradition and a pessimistic view of human nature. Those we label “conservatives” in this country are called “liberals” in Europe, because they are in favor of free markets, individual initiative and a democratic polity based on individual, not collective, rights. In the U.S., conservatives represented by the Republican Party just won majorities in both houses of Congress as well as occupying the presidency. Its closest counterpart in Germany is the Free Democratic Party, which won just a bit over 7% of the vote in Germany’s election last September.