August 21, 2026

The American Conservative Morning Briefing · Aug 21, 2026 · 5m

Good morning! Today is Friday, August 21st 2026, and this is The American Conservative's Morning Brief. Leonid Ragozin argues that Western belligerence, not internal dissent, has become Vladimir Putin's most reliable insurance policy, as doomsday readings of the Yabloko ban and a fired state bank economist miss the reality of Russian public opinion. Ted Galen Carpenter warns that NATO's embrace of gender-equal conscription, alongside a December 2025 provision pushing automatic Selective Service registration, threatens to reverse one of America's great post-Vietnam victories for individual…