September 10, 2026

Good morning! Today is Thursday, September 10th 2026, and this is The American Conservative's Morning Brief. In Germany, the AfD's landslide 44 percent victory in Saxony-Anhalt has thrown Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Christian Democrats into crisis, with Phillip Linderman arguing the surge reflects the simple fact that Germany no longer has an authentically conservative party. As European capitals warn of Russian hybrid attacks on NATO soil and pundits urge tougher retaliation, Doug Bandow argues that deepening allied involvement in Ukraine would only push Putin to escalate, and that putting America first means steering clear of a wider war with Russia. and now for the details. We begin in Germany, where Sunday's state election in Saxony-Anhalt has delivered a political earthquake. The Alternative for Germany, or AfD, took a commanding 44 percent of the vote, doubling its share since Chancellor Friedrich Merz took office in 2025. The result has thrown Merz's Christian Democrats into crisis. Merz once boasted he would cut AfD support in half. Instead, it has surged, powered by voter concern over immigration, the economy, and education. Top campaign issues included the country's asylum system, the imposition of gender-identity curricula in state schools, and taxpayer funding for NGOs and public broadcasters. Writing for The American Conservative, Phillip Linderman argues that the AfD's rise is not, as Berlin elites claim, a sinister echo of Germany's authoritarian past. Rather, Linderman says, it reflects the simple fact that Germany no longer has an authentically conservative party. The CDU, he writes, has slow-walked its own supporters into a coalition with the Social Democrats, ratifying left-wing policies on energy, climate, taxation, and borders. Linderman highlights the AfD's rising star in Saxony-Anhalt, 35-year-old Ulrich Siegmund, whom he compares to a young Bill Clinton for his retail political skills. Because of Germany's coalition rules and the so-called firewall against the AfD, Siegmund may still be shut out of governing—but Linderman argues the results are likely to rock the federal system, and that this is a healthy and necessary development for both Germany and Europe. Turning to the war in Ukraine, European capitals are increasingly warning that the conflict is spilling over onto NATO territory. Germany has blamed Russia for last month's drone attack on Leipzig Airport, and the Financial Times describes it as a wake-up call about Moscow's hybrid campaign against Europe. The Washington Post's David Ignatius has called for a joint U.S.–European warning to Moscow, and even proposed that Washington and Europe quietly help Ukraine carry out proportional attacks inside Russia. Writing for The American Conservative, Doug Bandow argues that such an approach would make matters far worse. Bandow traces Vladimir Putin's evolution from a leader who once addressed the Bundestag about closer ties with Europe to a wartime president responding to what he views as an existential proxy war on Russia's border. Bandow does not excuse Moscow's invasion, which he calls criminal and unjustified. But he contends that Western policymakers have little moral standing to lecture, citing the Iraq War, the U.S.-backed Saudi campaign in Yemen, and the Trump administration's recent strikes on Iran. Bandow warns that escalating allied involvement will push Putin, under pressure from Russian hardliners, to double down rather than retreat. Putting America first, he concludes, means avoiding a wider war with Russia over Ukraine, and pressing European allies to step back from a proxy conflict that grows more dangerous by the week. Those are today's highlights. For the full stories and more, visit theamericanconservative.com. Thank you for starting your morning with us.