Neil Ferguson discusses the potential for improved situations for Israel due to uncertainty brought by Trump, and praises the IDF's effective job in Gaza. He emphasizes the need for restraint with Hezbollah and warns against Israel firing the first shot. Despite the challenges, Ferguson remains hopeful and ends the conversation on a positive note.
How can we create a radically different atmosphere at American universities? Easy, says historian Niall Ferguson of Stanford University's Hoover Institution--have meaningful rules about free speech, and ensure that they're upheld. As with humans, as with institutions: It's all about incentives. Ferguson discusses the current state of free speech on American campuses and how the new University of Austin when it opens hopes to safeguard freedom of speech. The conversation shifts then to the war in the Middle East. Ferguson draws on his work on the biography of Henry Kissinger and compares the present moment for Israel to the Yom Kippur War and the role Kissinger played in 1973.