The Restoring the West Manifesto 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. — Ayaan Hirsi Ali

It isn't kindness to exempt some people from the rules everyone else must follow. . @Ayaan argues that real equality means equal obligations, equal accountability, and equal justice under the law—regardless of race, religion, or background. A society that abandons this principle undermines both trust and freedom. Read: ayaan.restoringthewest.com/e… #RestoringTheWest #RuleOfLaw #Justice #EqualityBeforeTheLaw #Freedom #AyaanHirsiAli #WesternCivilization

When a civilization stops believing in its own traditions, its young will go searching for meaning somewhere else. In her latest for @RestoringWest, @DelphineChui argues that “Chinamaxxing” is less about China than about the West’s fading cultural confidence. Read more: ayaan.restoringthewest.com/c… #RestoringTheWest #Culture #Civilization #Chinamaxxing

Brexit was a vote for self-government. . @Todd_Huizinga argues that no economic forecast, elite opinion, or bureaucratic institution outweighs a nation's right to govern itself and hold its leaders accountable. The question remains as relevant today as it was in 2016: Who rules Britain? Read: ayaan.restoringthewest.com/b… #RestoringTheWest #Brexit #Sovereignty #Democracy #UnitedKingdom #SelfGovernment #Politics #WesternCivilization

When race becomes more important than truth, justice suffers. . @TreyDimsdale examines the death of Henry Nowak and the troubling questions it raises about policing, public trust, and equal treatment under the law. A justice system influenced by racial politics undermines the very principles on which it depends. Read: ayaan.restoringthewest.com/o… #RestoringTheWest #Justice #RuleOfLaw #HenryNowak #Freedom #EqualityBeforeTheLaw

In her latest essay for @RestoringWest, @jarobinson1 argues that critical thinking is not taught by teaching students what to think, but by exposing them to the Great Conversation of Western civilization. The Western canon trains students to analyze arguments, challenge assumptions, weigh evidence, and pursue truth with intellectual seriousness. Read: ayaan.restoringthewest.com/h… #RestoringTheWest #Education #CriticalThinking #GreatBooks #WesternCanon #HigherEducation #WesternCivilization

In her latest essay for @RestoringWest, @daisymaeinglese challenges one of modern culture’s most powerful promises: that women can maximize career, motherhood, marriage, family, health, and personal fulfillment all at once. A meaningful life is not built by having everything. It is built by making worthy sacrifices. Read: ayaan.restoringthewest.com/w… #RestoringTheWest #Family #Motherhood #Marriage #Culture #Women #Parenting #WesternCivilization

In her latest essay for @RestoringWest, @Ayaan offers a message of hope to Gen Z: You inherited weaker institutions, less social trust, and fewer opportunities than previous generations—but you also have the chance to become builders rather than consumers. The future belongs to those willing to create, lead, marry, build families, tell the truth, and leave something better behind. Read: ayaan.restoringthewest.com/m… #RestoringTheWest #GenZ #Future #Leadership #Culture #WesternCivilization #Truth #Family

In her latest column for @RestoringWest, @Ayaan argues that a free society cannot survive when some citizens are treated as more equal than others. When governments, media, and institutions place ideology above justice, the innocent pay the price—and our children inherit the consequences. Read: ayaan.restoringthewest.com/o… #RestoringTheWest #AyaanHirsiAli #Justice #RuleOfLaw #Freedom #WesternCivilization #Equality #Culture

In her Friday column for @RestoringWest, @DelphineChui argues that Pride Month has become more than a celebration—it is a powerful tool of cultural formation. When every major institution promotes the same moral vision, culture stops reflecting society and starts trying to reshape it. What a civilization celebrates, it eventually normalizes. Read: ayaan.restoringthewest.com/p… #RestoringTheWest #DelphineChui #Culture #PrideMonth #CulturalChange #WesternCivilization #Values #Society

In today's book review for @RestoringWest, @Todd_Huizinga examines Carl Trueman's The Desecration of Man—a powerful warning that when a civilization rejects God, it ultimately degrades its understanding of human dignity, truth, and morality. A provocative and essential read for anyone seeking to understand the West's crisis of meaning. Read: ayaan.restoringthewest.com/d… #RestoringTheWest #BookReview #CarlTrueman #Culture #Faith #HumanDignity #WesternCivilization #Meaning

In a conversation for @RestoringWest, @TreyDimsdale speaks with @MicheleHanash of @AHAFoundation about a shocking loophole in U.S. immigration law that can facilitate child marriage and human trafficking. Nearly 9,000 child marriage visa petitions were approved in just a decade. Protecting children should not be controversial. Read: ayaan.restoringthewest.com/c… #RestoringTheWest #ChildProtection #HumanTrafficking #ChildMarriage #HumanRights #Immigration #RuleOfLaw

AI can help students memorize facts. But it cannot replace teachers, classmates, books, conversation, or the moral formation that turns children into wise and responsible citizens. In her latest for @RestoringWest, @jarobinson1 explains why education needs humans, not just apps. Read: ayaan.restoringthewest.com/e… #RestoringTheWest #Education #AI #Learning

The @BBC framed Afghan fathers selling young daughters into forced marriage as tragic victims of poverty. In her latest for @RestoringWest, @daisymaeinglese argues this is not compassionate journalism, but a catastrophic moral failure that normalizes child abuse and abandons the innocent. Read: ayaan.restoringthewest.com/t… #RestoringTheWest #ChildProtection #HumanRights #WomensRights #Culture #WesternCivilization

In her Saturday column for @RestoringWest, @Ayaan warns against one of the media’s oldest tricks: switching the labels of “victim” and “perpetrator.” When the West begins sympathizing with abusers instead of defending the innocent, moral clarity collapses. Read: ayaan.restoringthewest.com/n… #RestoringTheWest #Media #Culture #MoralClarity #FreeSpeech #WesternCivilization #AyaanHirsiAli

For the final piece of Deep Dive #1 at @RestoringWest, @DelphineChui spoke with @Trent_Horn about the @whatever podcast, the crisis of modern relationships, and a generation searching for love, meaning, and moral clarity in an algorithm-driven culture. Beneath the viral debates lies something deeper: the collapse of trust between men and women—and the longing to rebuild it. Read: ayaan.restoringthewest.com/c… #RestoringTheWest #DeepDive #WhateverPodcast #Relationships #Culture #ModernDating #Faith #WesternCivilization

In Deep Dive #1 for @RestoringWest, @Todd_Huizinga points out that the @whatever podcast is a sad reflection of the emptiness of life in a culture without God. A civilization that loses its transcendent anchor will eventually lose its sense of meaning, dignity, and purpose as well. Read: ayaan.restoringthewest.com/t… #RestoringTheWest #DeepDive #WhateverPodcast #Culture #Faith #Meaning #WesternCivilization #Christianity

Check out @Ayaan’s Wednesday essay for @RestoringWest: “The Burqa and the Beast.” The same progressives who once demanded tolerance for the burqa now want to punish women for rejecting it. Ayaan explains why the fight over the veil is really a fight over free speech, women’s freedom, and whether the West still believes in its own civilization. Read: ayaan.restoringthewest.com/t… #RestoringTheWest #AyaanHirsiAli #FreeSpeech #WomensRights #WesternCivilization #Freedom #Culture

In Deep Dive #1 for @RestoringWest, Senior Editor for Law & Liberty @TreyDimsdale writes that the @whatever podcast normalizes dangerous myths about prostitution and sex work while ignoring overwhelming evidence of exploitation, trafficking, and social harm. Legalized prostitution has never delivered the liberation its advocates promised. Read: ayaan.restoringthewest.com/p… #RestoringTheWest #DeepDive #WhateverPodcast #Culture #HumanDignity #Exploitation #WesternCivilization

In Deep Dive #1 for @RestoringWest, @jarobinson1 shows five troubling realities the @whatever podcast reveals about the younger generation: ignorance is common, knowledge is treated as optional, education is seen as low ROI, civic literacy is collapsing, and confidence routinely exceeds competence. Read: ayaan.restoringthewest.com/w… #RestoringTheWest #DeepDive #WhateverPodcast #Education #GenZ #Culture #CivicLiteracy #WesternCivilization

In Deep Dive #1 for @RestoringWest, @daisymaeinglese explores why the @whatever podcast is more than viral entertainment—it is a disturbing mirror of modern dating culture, sexual “freedom,” and a generation searching for meaning without moral inheritance. Read: ayaan.restoringthewest.com/d… #RestoringTheWest #DeepDive #WhateverPodcast #ModernDating #Relationships #Culture #WesternCivilization